Interlude
by Linwe Tinuviel
Summary: This started as an Anti-"Emo King Vincent" project and turned into, well, THIS. Anyway, it IS rated "M" mostly because of language, and, hey, they're adults; there's adult content. VincentxOC Please review even if it's just to tell me you read it! Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Right, the usual rigamarole. I do not hold any rights to Vincent Valentine or any of the characters from Square-Enix's Final Fantasy VII, or any part of the compilation. I do, however, claim Tera Balia and her entire Scout squad.

**Author's Note: **Actually, all I'm going to mention is the chronology (as well as can be done, considering). This takes place more or less right after Advent Children and right before Dirge of Cerberus. It's the first (long) part of what looks to be at least a two-part series with these characters. It's called "Interlude" because I am **crap** at coming up with titles. I've had it done for awhile, but was waiting for final revisions. Please review, hopefully with constructive criticism. Thankee in advance!

Too much action and not enough sleep. I duck into an abandoned house to take a quick breather, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up two hours later. There's a shadow in the doorway. I curse and reach for my crossbow.

"Relax. I'm on your side." Anyone in the city would recognize that voice: Vincent Valentine, Guardian of the Night, has found me.

"Right," I mutter. "Thanks." He reaches down and pulls me to my feet. "Anything interesting happen?"

"No. You were lucky."

"I was stupid, is what I was. I know better than to stop in an unsecured location when I'm alone and tired." I wander over to the small kitchen and splash water from the faucet on my face, trying to gather my wits.

"What are you doing here?" The question catches me off guard. This is not someone known for his natural curiosity, after all.

"Our base was betrayed, and we scattered. My second and I got separated when he went to look for someone." I shrug. "Without someone to watch my back, I'm just lucky you came along."

"Second? You're organized?"

"Not anymore. I was, up until this morning, the leader of a largish, independent scout squad." I cock my head at him. "We prefer not to get involved with either side, if we can help it."

One black eyebrow rises. "You're mercenaries, then, who sell their skills to the highest bidder?"

I hide my annoyance by checking on my leg wound. Not like it's the first time I've heard that. "Generally, yes. We are licensed, and I _am_ a full Master Scout." I glance up at him. "Mainly, after the city went all to hell, we've just been trying to survive. The best way to do that now is to stay out of the way."

"Someone thinks you're a threat. Why?" Gets right to the point, doesn't he?

"I'm the last Master Scout in the city, and my squad is the best." This isn't mere boasting; the numerous records we've broken have made national news more than once.

"Why didn't they hire you or pay you off instead?" He is _not_ making a good first impression.

"Because I have integrity, perhaps? I won't let any of my people near that kind of trash." I begin to pack up to leave.

"You're tired."

"I've been tired. I'll live." I grin inwardly at his open eyeing of my stuff. One of the few privileges I take advantage of as a Master Scout is premium gear.

On top of fairly standard but still excellent defensive gear, I have some lovely throwing knives, a pair of customized melee daggers and my crossbow.

I'm used to contempt from gunmen at my lovely crossbow. I've been asked more times than I can count why I don't switch to a "real" weapon, one with range. My particular crossbow, however, is superior to _any_ firearm, with the possible exception of Vincent Valentine's. On top of being enhanced by the standard magics, it has a mini-scope and customized range/damage materia. And it makes less noise. So there.

Valentine says nothing about my beauties, which is to be expected. He's not one for talking much. But something shows on his face.

"What?" I retort. Just because I'm used to the reaction, that doesn't mean I like it. "She's not Cerberus, but she doesn't have to be." Even without my own touches, she's a damn fine crossbow.

He looks faintly startled. "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to. My main focus is stealth, and it's hard to be stealthy when you're blowing people's heads off. This has at least the range of a sniper rifle, and she only hums when I fire." I stow her in her custom holster on my back, over my last two pretties: A matched pair of single-edged, slightly curved short swords, works of art all by themselves.

The eyebrow goes up again. "You're a walking armory."

I hop up and down with a grin. "See? No noise." I keep hopping and stretching to finish waking up. "I know what I'm doing."

"I noticed your injuries. You don't have healing materia?"

"Don't need it. I'm a field healer, so it's not worth sacrificing any of the materia I do have." I poke my head out the door. It's now full dark.

"Come with me." I twist my head around (and almost fall over) to stare at him. From what I've heard, Valentine prefers to work alone. Maybe he's thinking I'll fall asleep again.

"I don't make the same mistake twice, and I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

I see a flash of something that, on anyone else, would be a smile. "To be honest, I want a closer look at your stuff, and I want to hear about your squad."

"Can I look at your gear as well?" I ask with a laugh. This, of course, is not the first time my crossbow has been propositioned. But I have no real plans for now, so a diversion can't hurt.

"Of course." We leave the house together.

As we travel through the dark streets of the city, I start wondering why the legendarily aloof Vincent Valentine has taken an interest in me. It's probably just the crossbow. Oh well. I've always wanted to see Cerberus as well.

We hear raised voices, and, without thinking, I back to the nearest wall and ready my daggers. Seeing the Night Guardian poised to jump around the corner, guns blazing, I revise my plan. Closing hand-to-hand would put me in the line of fire, so I pull my throwing knives out instead.

"How many?" I ask Valentine, who is peering around the corner.

"Ten, maybe a dozen. There's someone else with them." His voice sounds odd.

"Commander?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Noncombatant."

I swear under my breath. Great, they have a body shield. I ponder for a moment. "How good are you at being impressive?" I ask.

He cocks his head. "Why?"

"I can get the prisoner out if you can draw at least half of them away."

"Why not the other way around?" He sounds anxious, and I realize he recognizes the prisoner.

"You're more recognizable than I am, and I'm better at being sneaky." I wait. He isn't a subordinate, but this idea is the best I can come up with on short notice, so I'm fairly sure he'll agree.

For the first time this evening, Vincent Valentine is actually looking at me. I'll admit I'm not imposing; I try not to be. But I'm as tall as he is, agile, and fit. He sighs. "I'll see what I can do."

I grin impishly at him. "Go wild. You are trying for a distraction, after all."

"Don't be too long." He takes me at my word, and stalks into the pool of light nearest to our corner, letting his cloak swirl. "Hello, scum." He opens the festivities by shooting the squad leader.

My smile lingers as I watch him work. He manages to lead off two-thirds of the soldiers, but a few stay to guard the prisoner. I get a closer look at her as I edge nearer to the guards, and privately disagree with Valentine's description. She does not look in the least "noncombatant."

I take the first guard out without a sound, gliding out of the shadows daggers first. The second and third quickly follow, and as soon as I cut the pretty brunette free, she takes out the last guard herself. I laugh, for as soon as she turns to me, I recognize Tifa Lockhart, another hero.

"Hi," she says. "I'm Tifa. Thanks for cutting me loose."

"Tera," I reply. "I'm here with Vincent Valentine, wherever he's wandered off to."

"Right here," he replies, three inches from the back of my head.

"Don't do that," I say, not turning. "If I hadn't been expecting that, I'd have stabbed you."

"Barret and Cloud are on their way," Tifa says.

"Sorry to wreck the big rescue, but we thought it would be too chancy to leave you here," I say.

Tifa laughs. "It's a good thing, actually, that you **are** here. They decided my death was worth more than the money." She has her own healing materia, so I let her tend to herself.

Vincent is looking over a scratch on his arm, though, so I toss him my pot of salve. I'm totally unharmed, but, after all, I hadn't been acting like a giant bull's-eye. "Great work there," I tell him. "Any of them get away?"

"No."

"Noncombatant?" My question is edged with just a bit of sarcasm.

"She _was_ very tied up, Tera."

"Fine. I'll give you that one, but only 'cause you're cute." He flushes very faintly, while Tifa laughs and I just grin.

"Here we are, all ready to go dashing in on a rescue, and you're safe and snug, makin' small talk!" A new voice breaks into the conversation, as two battle-hardened men walk into the light.

"We kinda figured you wanted her alive," Valentine replies.

"True 'nough," one of the men says, a huge black man with a gun where his right hand ought to be. "You all right, Tifa?"

"Fine. You should have seen Vincent though. The stage is missing a great talent here." Vincent blushes again.

I step in. "My idea," I say. "He's much more conspicuous than I am, and Cerberus is much better at grabbing attention than my Shadowcat." I pat the crossbow.

"Who are you?" The other newcomer, a skinny blond with glowing blue eyes and the look of the perpetual loner, quite obviously doesn't trust me.

I roll my eyes. "Tera. Tera Balia: Master Scout, field healer, and other things too complicated to get into right now."

"Master Scout?" He looks doubtfully at me. I roll my eyes again and dig through my pack and pull out a golden disk on a leather thong: the crossed-daggers of Master Scout embossed on both sides. He studies it. "This _looks _genuine."

"It is. Can I have it back?" No one had **ever** accused me of faking my Master's disk. I put everything back in my pack, and stand up. "I apologize, but I'll have to see Cerberus another time. I'm never far away from the city. But I am not welcome here, so I will take myself elsewhere."

Both Tifa and Vincent give the blonde a Look. "Don't mind Cloud. He's not fit to be out in public," Tifa says. "This is Barret Wallace and Cloud Strife. Look, I at least owe you a meal for helping Vincent save me."

I haven't eaten more than handfuls of field provisions for a week, and I'm starting to like these people. Even Cloud, in his cold way. "Oh, all right. Vincent wanted to look at my crossbow anyway." I pull her out, remembering that the others haven't seen her yet. "This is my Shadowcat. In some ways, she's more dangerous than Cerberus."

Barret whistles as he looks at my crossbow. "I can see that. This is a piece of art, Tera."

I beam at him. "Why thank you."

Cloud catches a glimpse of my swords as I re-holster Shadowcat. "You do swordplay?" he asks.

"A bit. It's hard to maneuver in the city." I grin at him. "And something that makes gaping slashes in people should hardly be called 'play,' if you want my opinion as a healer."

As the (admittedly gorgeous) blonde smiles back at me, I think that most girls would commit murder to be where I am. "True enough," Cloud says. "I apologize for being so rude earlier. I worry about Tifa."

I shrug. "It happens."

Barret laughs. "It happens to Spikey here more often than most." He looks at Shadowcat again, and shoots Cloud a sly look. "Only a Scout would have a bow like that."

Vincent chuckles. At least, that's what I think he's doing. "And only a Master could afford it."

Cloud blushes bright red. I sigh and say, mildly, "The fact that you didn't think I'm a Scout is actually a compliment, Cloud. Don't worry about it."

Tifa gives me a grateful look and asks, "How are you at hand-to-hand?"

I show her the daggers. "Iffy, but it's usually unnecessary. I can convince people in far more tangible ways." I grin and add, "And as to materia, I'd rather not depend on it since I spend so much time alone."

"Sounds reasonable," Cloud says. "I feel better knowing that, since the last strange girl we ran into stole all of ours."

Another maybe-chuckle from Vincent Valentine. "That was before you met me."

"Not when she stole it. That was on the island."

"Makes no difference either way," Vincent shrugs. "I prefer not to rely on anything if I don't have to."

"Or anyone," Tifa mutters. This is apparently a standing argument. Cloud and Vincent wince.

Vincent turns away, the red highlights in his eyes becoming pronounced. I say, "It's not so much a matter of trust, or doubt in your abilities, Tifa."

"I don't need to be cocooned in silk, thank you. Cloud tries to exclude me to protect me." Her eyes are a deep garnet and brown, entirely different from Vincent's ruby and gold. "I don't know why they still bother."

"I can't speak for anyone else, but I have a limited number of friends as it is, and, other than that, I prefer to work alone because I don't want to risk anyone else in my judgment calls."

Barret snorts. "You don't seem like you'd get close to anyone," he says. "Not like us. Don't you have _good_ friends?"

I am deeply offended by this. "Yes, and as a matter of fact, one of them is a friend of yours. I keep in contact with Commissioner Reeve Tuesti. And, at the moment, the only reason I'm _in_ this part of the city is because I'm waiting for my second, Owen." I frown. "He ought to have been here by now."

Cloud says, "Describe him to me. I'll put the word out with our own people."

I smile at him. "Thank you. His name is Owen Qesarin, although I think I'm the only one who actually knows his last name. He's about your height, has bright red hair and green-hazel eyes." I roll my own, dark blue ones. "And he's the biggest smart-ass in town. Guaranteed."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer (I'll make it quick): **Tera, Scouts: Me. EVERYONE ELSE: Square-Enix.

**2**

We reach the base, and I'm so tired that I'm hardly aware of my surroundings. "Tera?" I look up at a landing to see Reeve grinning down at me. "So you've met my disreputable friends, have you?"

"Disreputable?" I laugh. "Compared to you?"

"True, true," he chuckles, coming down to give me a hug. "I am the only one of us who was a spy in the previous regime, eh?"

"Yep," says Barret, his good humor returning when he sees that I wasn't lying about Reeve. "Cid out in the shop?"

"Where else?" I wobble on my feet. "Whoa. Let's get you to a bed, pronto. You're totally wiped out." Someone shouts his name, and he sighs. "Always something."

Vincent takes my arm. "I'll take care of her, Reeve."

"Thanks." He turns away. "What is it now?"

I'm not totally out, but close enough that everything is blurry. "Vincent!!" A highly enthusiastic, female voice breaks into my daze. "You're back! Who's this?" I'm suddenly face-to-face with a large-eyed island ninja, who is looking me over suspiciously. She reaches for Shadowcat, seeing the glint of materia. "What's this? Let me see!" My hand shoots out without conscious direction. Wutai ninjas are notorious materia thieves, and I muzzily remember Cloud mentioning this one. I grab her wrist, not hard enough to do any damage, but as an ample warning. "Hey! Let go!!"

Vincent sighs. "Yuffie, how many times do we have to tell you? Ask before you go grabbing people's stuff. If she had been Cloud or Barret, you'd be across the hall on your head."

"Please don't touch," I add. We have a bit of a staring match, which I inevitably win. "And if you do decide to try again, I'll retaliate."

"Yeah, right! You're half dead on your feet!" She tries to break free and grab Shadowcat again. I don't waste energy I don't have being fancy; I just dump her on her butt with a twist of her arm. "Ow!!"

"I'm not a Master Scout because I'm cute," I say.

Yuffie protests being dropped to Vincent, who sighs again. "Don't underestimate people, Yuffie. One of these days, you'll lose a hand."

Moments later, I collapse into a soft bed and almost fall asleep on the spot. I crack one eye open. "You'd better take Shadowcat now, Vincent. I don't think Yuffie would appreciate going ass-over-tip through the door."

"Probably not," he agrees, stowing the rest of my gear.

I'm out for ten hours or so, and then, suddenly, I'm not. The moment I wake up in the wonderful, clean bed, I realize how grubby and bloody and icky I am. I roll out of bed in search of a shower, clean clothes and breakfast, in that order. Cloud is the first person I see, sitting at a table looking at a chart.

He smiles at me. "Hi. Feel better?"

"Oh, yes. Filthy, but much better." Tifa comes over and looks me up and down. Other than my boots and jacket, my clothes are done in.

"Cloud? We have a problem. She's at least a foot taller than me, and a good four inches taller than you. Where are we going to find clothes?"

Cid Highwind wanders in and sees them debating. "What's goin' on?" he asks, and sees me standing there. "Hey. I'm Cid," he says, holding out a hand.

I shake it. "Tera. My clothes are pretty much rags, so we're trying to figure out how to keep me decently dressed."

We hear, "Barret is way too big. . ." and Cid eyes me. Then he bursts out laughing. "Got it!" he says.

Cloud and Tifa look around, and Tifa puts her hands on her hips. "Well, stop giggling and tell us!"

Taking visible hold of himself, Cid says, "Vincent's the only one here anywhere close to her size. They're around the same height, and, beggin' your pardon, Tera, but you ain't all that busty."

Tifa giggles. "We didn't even think of that."

"Well none of us can alter anything else worth a damn, so them's our options," Cid says, blue eyes merry.

They're all three laughing like the loons they are when Vincent comes down the stairs. "What's going on?" At the sight of him, all three cackle anew.

I roll my eyes. "Ignore them. They're being silly."

"Can you think of a better idea?" chortles Cid.

Tifa pulls it together. "Vincent. Tera needs new clothes."

"I know." Vincent holds up a soft bundle. At the sight of their jaws dropping, _I_ start laughing.

Realizing the joke, Vincent rolls his eyes. "Honestly."

"Clearly they were hoping you hadn't thought of that, since it took them ten minutes to," I say with a chuckle. "Can you show me the shower?"

"Sure." Cloud and Cid are still staring, and for a moment, Vincent grins. "This way."

In the shower, I scrub until my pale skin is red. I'm not finicky, normally, or I'd be a horrible Scout, but after almost two weeks, I am more than ready to be clean again. My long, auburn hair is going to be a bitch to brush out, but at least I'm not gray with dirt anymore.

After I get out and dressed, I follow my nose to breakfast. Reeve is making omelettes, it seems. "Morning, Tera. Want some?"

"Absolutely; it smells fantastic. Did anyone tell you about the entertainment earlier?" I sit down and let Reeve fuss around, serving me a gigantic breakfast.

"No, but I saw Cid looking like a landed fish. What happened?" I tell him, and he laughs. "Sounds about right."

I shake my head and say, "It's like even his own friends don't realize that he does connect to the real world. Just because he's off in a place of his own sometimes, that doesn't mean he can't relate to this one, yeah?"

"Exactly," Reeve nods. "I've noticed that people do the same to you, though. But in your case, you don't look like half of what you are."

I bow from my seat. "That happens to be one of the highest compliments you can pay a Scout of any degree." I take a bite, and add, "And to return that honor with one of my own, you are a magnificent cook."

"Why, thank you." We spend the next half hour catching up on rumors and gossip, and I'm starting to relax for the first time in a very long time.

A voice breaks the peace. "Here I am, running my ass off for almost two weeks, and I find you sitting, clean and pretty, eating breakfast and making light conversation." I turn to see Owen leaning against the door frame.

"You idiot! Where the hell were you?" I jump up to hug him. "For your information, I just got here. This is my first decent meal in a week at least, and I've been looking for you. I could have been away to safe parts ages ago."

"Then why aren't you?" he teases.

"Because you owe me money. I can't let your big mouth get you killed before you pay up." I sigh. "At this rate, that means for the rest of your life."

Cloud, who has brought Owen in, laughs, and Reeve shoos them both into chairs. "Sit. Eat. I can feed you just as easy as I can Tera." He grins slyly at me. "Easier, probably."

I laugh. "You clearly haven't seen Owen eat."

Owen sits down and sticks his tongue out at me. "I would ask you if you've been staying out of trouble, but, seeing the company you're keeping, I doubt it."

"Actually, Reeve didn't find me. Vincent Valentine caught me napping downtown," I say.

Owen _tsks_ at me. "You know better."

"You try not sleeping for a week," I reply. "I had no one to watch my back."

"Fair enough. I had Leticia." I arch an eyebrow at him, and he sighs. "She left yesterday. Cloud found me at the edge of town. She's sick of all of it."

"It was bound to happen. She's from Outside, right? She doesn't know what we see in this place." I grin. "At least she lasted longer than Diana."

"There are bugs that live longer than that relationship did."

Vincent wanders in. "How are you now?" he asks.

"All better," I smile at him. "Rested, bathed and fed, in that order." We watch Owen plow through his omelette. "Maybe you should open up a diner, Reeve," I suggest.

"With what time?" Reeve hands Vincent a plate. "Sit."

Vincent sits. "Bah," he says. "You just like being in the middle of everything."

"Just like the rest of you," Reeve points out.

I chuckle. "Vincent, Cloud, Owen and I have all been trained for this, Tifa and Barret have a Cause, and Yuffie is . . . well, herself." Owen is looking me over.

"Hey, that's not your stuff," he says, and then double-takes at Vincent. He opens his mouth, then closes it again.

Reeve laughs. "Yeah, she looks better in Vincent's clothes than he does," he says, adding, "No offense," to Vincent, who smiles. I turn red.

Cid, coming in for his own breakfast, comments, "She's got boobs. That makes quite a bit of difference."

"Thank you," I say. "I think. Yes, Owen, my own things were a mess. Vincent happens to be the only person in this nuthouse close to my size.

"Hips, too," says Vincent. I glare at him, and he smiles again.

Owen says, "He has a point. He's built like a pencil. You're a girl; you have hips."

I mutter to myself about smart-ass boys, and Tifa overhears. "Hey, you just got here. I've _been _here for awhile. Honestly, the comments I 'overhear' sometimes." She rolls her eyes.

"Fair enough," I admit. "Let's just leave it at 'stupid boys' before we get in trouble."

Tifa snickers at the various looks of pout on three of the four male faces (Vincent only shrugs), and says, "Agreed. Come on. Let's go do something ridiculously girly."

"Oh, thank the gods," I reply. "You're going to help me with my hair."

She nods and spirits me off to her room, where we spend a relaxing hour untangling my auburn snarl and gossiping. "So don't be terribly surprised if Cloud says, 'Oh no, I can't let you get involved in this.' He didn't say it to Yuffie, but who would? It's not like we could beat her off with a stick as long as we have materia."

I chuckle. "I've encountered island ninjas before. They're all like that." Then I tell her about the crossbow incident from the night before. "Nobody touches Shadowcat unless I've given them specific permission, not even Owen."

"Where is she?"

"Vincent still has her. I imagine Cid will want to look at the mechanical parts later, too." I pat my daggers. "I'm never unarmed."

"I can see that," Tifa laughs. "But you said you were iffy at hand-to-hand."

I shrug. "It wasn't fancy. I figured I'd probably get in trouble if I stabbed her."

"Yeah, for a first warning that is a little harsh," Tifa agrees. "But Cloud's come close to that himself, and Cid almost knocked her through a wall once."

Vincent finds us in Tifa's room, just as I'm finishing brushing my hair out. I flick it over my shoulder for Tifa to play with it, and smile at him. "Are you having fun with my lovely lady?"

"Very much so." He hands me a customized sniper rifle. "I thought you might like this." He smiles. "Cloud would like to see your swords, too."

"They're under the bed. And if they're not, I think someone will feel my daggers." I don't expect to hear Yuffie, and I'm not disappointed.

Tifa is braiding my hair into one long tail. "Sit still," she scolds.

Vincent turns to go, then turns back. "Oh. Did you want Cerberus now as well?"

"If it's all right. I'd like to compare it to your rifle." As he hands the triple-barreled pistol over, we hear a barely suppressed exclamation from outside the door. "Come on in, Yuffie. I knew you were out there."

The ninja stomps into the room. "That's not fair!!" she says to Vincent "I asked nicely the last four times to see your gun, and you looked at me like . . . like I'd asked for your firstborn child! But you hand it over to her without even thinking about it!"

Vincent cocks his head. "It's an even trade. I have her crossbow."

"So?!" She glares at me. "And you didn't have to say that snarky bit about the swords."

I snort. "Yes, I bloody well did. You woke me up looking for them this morning." She flushes and looks down. "I'm a very light sleeper."

Yuffie flounces off, and Tifa sighs and finishes with my hair. "Hopefully, she'll get the point eventually. Until then, she's entertaining when she's not after our stuff. And she's really good with the windmill."

I shrug. "I've met some of her relatives, so I doubt she'll change all that much." I pick up Cerberus and study it carefully, without fiddling with things.

"You know how to take care of it," Vincent says. "Yuffie, not so much."

"No worries there," I reply. "Where is the firing range?"

"I'll take you there," he answers, patting my lady affectionately.

"Thank you for helping with my hair, Tifa," I flip the long braid at her. "I thought it was going to take all afternoon to do."

"No problem. I think I'll come with you and watch."

I grin at Vincent. "Feel up to another show? I think we'll have quite the audience."

"I imagine," he agrees.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

In fact, everyone at the complex shows up. Even Yuffie is sulking back in the shadows by the door. Vincent says, "The rifle kicks a bit."

"Remember the scope is in a kind of weird place, compared to what you're used to," I reply. "She doesn't kick, but I've noticed the scope can actually skew your aim, if you don't remember that."

I try Cerberus first. The action is smooth and the reloading is seamless and quick. Because of that, and the lack of recoil, it is as good or (in my opinion) better than an automatic or a semi. Contrary to what many people think, I'm actually a decent shot with a "real" firearm, and I know what I like. I happen to like my crossbow better than a gun. As I'm going over the gun again, carefully this time, I see the customized, longer barrel, a chain from which one can hang materia, and slides in the barrel for various enhancements.

While Vincent is still finding all of Shadowcat's numerous charms, I switch to the rifle. There are high posts for long-range shots, and I climb one of them. The rifle has fire magic augmenting it, but I decide not to incinerate the target. Vincent comes up next to me without a word, and I grin. We're well out of standard crossbow range.

We don't speak, but both raise our weapons and fire at the same time. I have a slight advantage here, unlike with Cerberus earlier, in that I've used a sniper rifle many times before. This is a superb rifle but not as different from others as my 'Cat is from other crossbows.

Even so, Vincent is only an inch, maybe less, low of dead center. Before anyone at the bottom of our perch can react, I have Shadowcat re-cocked and brush the top of Vincent's bolt with the bottom of mine. Vincent laughs.

"It's been awhile since anyone has out-shot me," he says.

I shrug. "I did have a slight advantage with the rifle, and you beat me in equal margin with the close-range."

"'Mind me never to piss you off," Barret suggests from the bottom of our tower.

As the others add their agreement, I climb down and stalk back to standard bowshot range. Heads follow a beautiful throwing knife as it embeds itself with a soft _plink _in the end of Vincent's crossbow bolt.

Owen laughs. "You don't think I follow her around 'cause I'm madly in love with her, do ya? I fear for my hide a lot less with her up on a tower, covering me." He smirks and adds, "At least, from other people. I fear for it more with her right nearby."

I snort at the last remark and shrug off the rest. "I have to be good at what I do. It keeps me and my people alive."

Vincent lands lightly right next to me, having jumped down, and Cloud chuckles. "Can you do that?"

"Nope. I tried, and sprained my f-ing ankle."

"Too much stuff," Vincent teases.

"In which case I wouldn't want to," I reply. "I've spent more than a few years and gil assembling all my gear." I lean over and use Owen as an armrest. "This lad has more talents than shooting his mouth off, which he mostly uses to pull his ass out of the fire when he shoots his mouth off." Owen pouts at me. "Oh, come on. Tell me what part of that wasn't true."

"Well . . . um. . ." We laugh as Owen tries to come up with an excuse. "Oh, fine. You have to admit, it hasn't hurt me so far."

"True." Reeve. "You manage to talk your way out of trouble as fast as you talk your way into it, sometimes at the same time."

Amid fresh chortles, Cloud says to me, "I've been meaning to ask: How did you meet Reeve? We all know he knows people; he just never elaborates."

"I don't think you'll like it," I reply, eyeing him. "It has to do with the Corporation."

"Oh, get it over with," Owen says.

"Why don't you?" I retort, nettled.

"If you insist. It was at Junon, just after they fired the huge cannon. We traveled a lot in those days; Tera is a healer, and generous ones were (and still are) in short supply. Healing materia is expensive, and we all know how Shinra felt about the 'little people,' and the villagers couldn't afford a real healer, more often than not. As it turns out, there is a real healer in the bottom part of the coast city, and she's an old friend of Tera's. We were just having tea when the explosion went off."

I take up the tale. "I can't just sit back when people are injured. After all, the worst that most of them had done was not actively opposing the Corporation, which took a lot of guts." I grin at my new friends. "When I saw all the injured people around the tower, I ran to give what aid I could, the old sea-healer right behind me. I learned the secret of lifestream leaf from the doctors at the Mideel, and it would be more use here than materia, which I also had at the time. The first person I saw was Reeve Tuesti.

"I was actually on my way _to _the tower when it imploded," Reeve continued. "I was out cold for I don't know how long. The next thing I remember, this charming redhead was smearing something on a cut on my head."

Cloud's eyes turned a cold sky blue. "Healing magic can only do so much. Rufus should not have survived that explosion."

"Yeah," I sigh. "Vincent, roll up your sleeve, please." When he does, they don't even see a scratch where a bullet-burn had been the night before. "Lifestream leaf. It will heal just about any surface injury. The materia had slowed the bleeding, but they couldn't close all the small wounds."

"**Why** did you help him?" I flinch at the tone of voice.

"A couple of reasons: First of all, Rude and Tseng vouched for him, and we grew up together. If they wanted to keep him, who was I to argue?" I take a deep breath. Now for the reason they _won't_ understand. "Secondly, I am a **healer**, Cloud. I can't leave another human being to bleed to death and just sit and watch." Reeve and Owen snort. I sigh at the stony faces of the others. "Never mind. I knew you wouldn't understand." I pick my bolts and my knife out of the targets, and head for the stairs.

Vincent follows me inside. I'm using the fifteen years of self-control training to keep from letting my shoulders slump, but I doubt he's fooled. "You're not back up to strength," he says.

"I'll live. I'm going to get out of here before they start the lynching party. Not like I'm surprised; I ought to start lying about that." I reach the bottom of the stairs and look at him. "With Owen back, I have someone to watch my back, so I can recharge elsewhere."

Yuffie giggles maliciously behind us, and Vincent turns. "Stop it, Yuffie." She steps into the light. "I mean it. She's still trustworthy in my book." I blink.

"Why? She helped the president, didn't she?"

"Go blow a cat, Yuffie," I reply tiredly. "If you had someone dying right in front of you and you knew you were the only person who could save them, would you leave them?" I look at her for a minute, then turn back to go upstairs. "Never mind. Stupid question."

Yuffie squeals in rage, and is about to dash after me when Owen snags her arm. Lightly, it seems, but she can't get loose. "No one asked what the price was. Only the deserving get off free, and we certainly don't need the Corporation's blood money."

Barret snorts. "Sure. And I'm Shiva."

Reeve chuckles with no humor. "I wouldn't be so sure of absolutes, my friend. Tera's not stupid enough to make a deal with someone that slippery without getting it in writing."

Yuffie twists away from Owen. "You're biased!" she shouts at Reeve, who shrugs. "And we can't trust _you,"_ she spits at Owen.

"As you will," Owen shrugs. "It's only witnessed by the sea-healer, Reeve, and a random person nearby. The Corporation thugs would rather stay the hell off of Tera's paperwork."

Reeve grins. "Plainly speaking, she told him to shut off the reactors, stop the obscene research, and do some good with himself instead, or she would quite happily watch him bleed to death." He winks at me. "The reactors and the experiments are in the contract, with a clause that states that, if he reneges, she can and will mince him so fine that **nothing** would save him."

Tifa laughs. "You had Shadowcat then?" When I nod, she shakes her head at her two belligerent male friends. "Not even the Turks would have dared you. I'm _definitely _not going to land on your shit list."

Vincent relaxes, and I realize he has been about to pounce on anyone who comes against me. I am quite frankly, shocked. "Can I talk to you alone for a sec?" I ask him.

"As long as we're done here," he says. When sheepish nods abound, he leads me up to the roof. "If Yuffie can get up here, she can fly."

I chuckle. "True. Thank you." I look out over the ruined city, trying to phrase my confusion. "Why have you decided to be my champion?" I decide to be blunt. "We barely know each other."

Vincent now looks to the ruins for inspiration. "To be absolutely honest, I don't know. I see in you someone like me, a kindred spirit. We look at the world in similar ways." Seeing my expression, he smiles. "If I had been in your place, I would have saved him as well." His eyes suddenly flash bright red. "However, if it had been Hojo. . ."

He doesn't need to finish. I snort. "I did specifically say _human being, _Vincent."

He comes out of his dark thoughts and laughs; it isn't his normal, mellow laugh, either. This one is more than a bit creepy. "Yes," he snarls. "No one who did _this,"_ he gestures to himself, "could possibly be human."

I realize then that, although we had been talking about Hojo, he is referring to the fair Lucrecia, Hojo's assistant. "Research scientists, all of them, scare the willies out of me," I say, touching his gauntleted left hand. "I happen to like you the way you are, however. I would have been dead without you, not to mention countless others. Think of that."

His lips twitch as if he's keeping back a sharp retort. "I do. It keeps me sane."

"Yeah, me too. But my point is that you can't change it now. For every ten people who adore you as a hero and savior of the world, there are two more who think everything you do is tainted." I sigh as I think of my sisters.

"Personal experience?" Vincent's sigh matches mine.

"Yeah. Family, no less. My older brother is the only person still talking to me. Our younger brother was killed by monsters." I pound the wall in front of me. "Were we supposed to be bloody _grateful _that Hojo returned the body instead of experimenting?"

"But you helped the president."

"Circumstances change. We were fighting for the planet, and if he hadn't done what he had, you wouldn't have gotten into the crater."

"True enough." He half-smiles. "But I'll bet **you** don't have fangirls."

I laugh. "No, I don't. At least, not that I'm aware of. Among the Scouts, though, I have guys who could be fanboys, if they weren't so dangerous and legendary themselves." I shrug. "I'd hardly be known outside them, unless you'd like to call Reeve a fanboy."

"I might. He acts like one."

I laugh again. "I _did _save his life, Vincent." I tease him just like I would a Scout, and he doesn't seem to mind. "Besides, he mothers everyone. Haven't you noticed?"

"There you two are!" Speaking of Reeve, here he is. "I was afraid you really had left. Come on down from there; Cloud's being bearable again."

"I told him he wasn't going to like it," I reply. "Is it my fault I'm always right?"

Vincent laughs and touches my shoulder as we descend. "Stay awhile longer," he says. "My room is across the hall, and I like having someone to talk to."

**Disclaimer: **You know what? I'm putting this down here this time, just for a change. If Square-Enix happens by, they have the rights to Vincent Valentine and his FFVII friends. I have the (figurative) rights to Tera Balia and _her_ Scout friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Owen looks at me pleadingly when I get downstairs. "Yes, we're staying, if it's okay with Reeve and Cloud," I tell him, laughing.

Reeve smiles. "Stupid question on my part. Treat my place as if it were yours."

Cloud laughs. "I think I'd get killed if I said no. Once more, I apologize for being rude."

"Bah," I reply. "You have every reason to want Rufus dead. I should have mentioned our bargain from the beginning. It makes it easier to accept, I expect. I should also stop being so touchy when people react badly. He's not exactly the Queen of May."

"Enough," Reeve says. "Come eat."

Owen gives me puppy eyes. "Can we stay as long as Reeve feels like feeding us?"

I chuckle, and murmur to Vincent, "Sounds like Reeve has his own fanboy." Vincent hides a grin.

I spend most of lunch answering Cid's questions about the specs on my crossbow. "I only left the windlass on there for balance," I explain, using a rough outline on the paper placemat for visual reference. "Before I switched to a silk string, the hemp was too finicky to hand-cock, and that's when I made the magic modifications. Taking the windlass off would make it way too tip-heavy, even with the scope."

"Why? I would think the scope'd do it," Cid says.

"Because of where I put the materia slots," I explain. "I don't have anywhere else to put it, and the range-enhancement materia is crucial to my work."

"Well, yeah, I can see that." He points to where the stock joins the shaft. "What if we clamp something up under there? That windlass is damned awkward; I can tell without even shooting her. 'Sides, a sleek lady like this deserves to be perfected. We made a lot of extra junk for Cerberus that we'll never use, so we'll see if we can modify that." He makes some sketches on mine, and passes it to Vincent. "What d'ya think? Do we have anything that'll suit?"

"Hmmm. . ." Vincent closes his eyes, and I can tell he's going over his inventory in his head. "I think so. And it won't be just a useless scrap of metal, either. Remember, Cid? We made that power enhancement slide that was too big. It should be perfect, and if it's not, like everything else we have, it's adjustable." He quickly draws the part and hands it back.

"Oh, yeah, I remember now. It's worth a shot, at any rate."

"Will a firepower enhancer work on a crossbow?" I ask. "I mean, they're entirely different modes of operation."

"Can't see why not, if we adjust it right," Cid replies. "It's magic-enhanced, not mechanical, so the different modes shouldn't matter all that much."

The rest of lunch is spent discussing Reeve's efforts in putting Midgar back together. "I'm really interested in the whole Planet, but people look here first out of habit. Once we get it back on its feet, people will believe that I really want to help them."

"You helped save the world," I half-tease. "Doesn't that give you just a shred of credibility?"

"You'd be surprised," Barret says with a sigh. "No one wants to remember that it was all of us following the company that got us into this to begin with."

"Exactly," Reeve says. "They're all too happy to remember that I worked for said company, though. The fact that all I did was try to improve the slums doesn't come into it at all. Be honest, Cloud: Would you have accepted me if I hadn't betrayed Shinra for you?"

"Probably not," admits the blonde, with a guilty shrug.

"So gloomy," I say, cheerfully. "Word's getting out. People are starting to pick their lives up again, and you do have those who _will_ ask you for help."

After lunch, Vincent, Cid, and I go to the shop to play with Shadowcat. I have to admit, Cid is an artist when it comes to gizmos. He clamps the firepower thingie onto my crossbow in a half an hour, and, after a few minute adjustments, it doesn't even wiggle. "Perfect," I say as I pick her back up. "How can I tell if it has more power now?"

"Test-fire her, I suppose." Cid shrugs. "It ought to work."

Owen pokes his head through the door. "If you're done, Captain, can I talk to you?"

"Of course. Vincent, could you--?"

He takes Shadowcat, and hands me Cerberus. "Just in case."

I walk off with my second, holstering the gun without thinking. It fits well enough for now. "What do you need, Owen?"

"How long did you want to stay here?"

"I thought you wanted to stay as long as Reeve feeds you," I say, cocking my head at him. "Did he decide to stop?"

"Funny." He sighs. "I'm just worried about the rest of our crew. Is this just a quick breather, or were you thinking something more permanent?"

I ponder for a second, then poke my head back through the door. "Cloud, could you come over here for a sec?"

He ambles over. "What do you need?"

"When you put the word out for Owen, did you describe me to your sources, in case he got suspicious?"

"Yep. And before you ask, I can easily have everyone keep an eye out for anyone else," Cloud says, grinning at Owen's surprise.

"Do you think anyone would mind if we brought everyone here at first?" When he hesitates, I give him my big blue puppy eyes, and he laughs.

"I don't see why not. I don't mind, as long as the whole City isn't about to move in."

I glance at Owen, and he says, "We'll get the Twenty back, but I don't know if we'll get anyone else. The new cubs were probably frightened off by the reminder that being a Scout is dangerous, and **someone** betrayed us."

"Back to the core guard, huh?" I ask sadly.

Owen shrugs. "That's twenty people who would follow you into the Nether Hells," He says. "In my opinion, one of any of them is worth at least five of the others." His eyes narrow. "Especially the rat. Whoever it was will die slowly."

"You and Tera were talking about a girl. . ." Cloud says, hesitantly.

"Nope. Squad rules say we can't let a non-Scout within a certain radius of the base. I picked her up on the way out. She's been seen too much with me to be safe." Owen sighs. "It was someone we trained with, probably for awhile."

I nod. "I don't remember who was the newest, but they'd all been there for at least six months, which means you and I were lucky to get out that easily." I give him a cool look. "Still think I'm paranoid for only letting a few know about the escape plan?"

"I guess not. Do you think everyone made it out safe?"

"Unless it was one of their mates that turned us in, yeah," I reply gently. "We've had to run before."

Cloud says, "You don't think it's the deal you made with the Shinra coming back to haunt you, do you?"

"I doubt it; Rude and Tseng, at least, know better. They know if I got out at all, I would know that it was them, and misery and death would rain down on a _lot_ of people before they managed to bring us all down. Especially themselves."

"If they ever did," agrees a new, female voice from the door. "We're nasty people, Captain."

I hug the new arrival, and Owen follows suit. "Cloud, this is Demetria Arizetti. Demi, this is Cloud Strife. This is where we're going to gather for right now."

Cloud shakes her hand. "Nice to meet you. We'd be more than happy to help you all get set back up."

"Really?" Tad, Demi's runner comes in. "That's _awful_ sweet of you." He holds out his hand. "Tad Barnes."

"Cloud Strife. Yeah, it's not like we don't have the space. Speaking of which, I'll go see how many bedrooms we have furnished." Cloud walks off, and another face appears in the entryway.

"I found these two outside," he says to me. "They described you about like Cloud did, so I brought them along." His mode of speech is very dignified.

"Excellent. Thank you," I reply. "I am Tera Balia, and this is my second, Owen Please-Don't-Say-my-Last-Name." Owen winces as I say what he was going to, and Demi and Tad chuckle.

"Charmed," replies the newcomer, regarding us with a single yellow eye. "I am Nanaki, as I imagine you already know." He bows his catlike head. "Has Reeve started dinner yet?"

"I think so," says Owen. "I'll go with you."

"Save some for the rest of us," I call after him. "He's in food heaven," I tell Demi. "I actually didn't know Reeve could cook. It never came up."

"I can't imagine why not," she replies with a laugh. "I'm sure you had plenty of time to make small talk when you last saw him."

I chuckle and put on a haughty air. "Oh, of course. Because I am such a small talk kind of person." I raise both of my eyebrows. "I am _famed_ for my blathering skills."

"I hadn't noticed," Vincent says, right behind me.

"You really should stop doing that," I say. "At the very least, you're going to get elbow- checked."

"Haven't yet," he replies. "People seem to expect me to do it."

"Well, _I_ don't, and I'd be the one to do it." Demetria and Tad are staring at us.

"It's dinner time," Vincent explains, after I make introductions. "Better come quickly, before Owen eats it all."

Demi laughs again. "It's like you two have been friends for years. Normally," she informs Vincent, "she would just elbow-check you."

"Elbow the mighty Vincent Valentine?" I scoff. "Not bloody likely." Vincent shoots me a moderately evil look, and I beam at him. "I'd be ripped apart by the horde of hero- worshiping fifteen-year-olds."

"Careful," Vincent retorts. "I might turn them loose on you anyway."

Over dinner, we have more serious discussions. "How are we going to handle our usual output with this few people?" I ask glumly. "For those of you that don't know, out of the twenty we're expecting, that's only eight Scouts, their runners, and two beast trainers. Even at the number we _had_, I was still doing straight-up missions, four or five at a time. Then there's my healer duties. People are still getting hurt, and they need me."

Reeve gives me a funny look. "What if I put out notice that people can come to us instead? That way you don't have to go digging people out unless it's urgent-"

Tifa cuts him off. "Don't even think of suggesting I won't help," she says.

Reeve laughs. "Why would I?" He grins sheepishly at me. "I have an ulterior motive as well. How better to let people know I mean what I say by offering free healing?"

"Not here," Vincent, Cloud and I say in unison. They both gesture at me to continue.

"Even as paranoid as I am, we got given up because I wasn't paranoid enough. I mean to train the new people in an entirely different, open location than we ultimately decide on for headquarters. Why don't we do the healing there, as well?" I give Cloud a slightly uneasy look. "Just a thought, but we may want to let Tseng know where we are. Extra backup, sort of thing. He and Rude _know_ I'll come down on them if they try anything."

Barret laughs. "Not a bad idea." At Cloud's look of surprise, he grins. "Come on, Spikey. I b'lieve she can enforce their silence, if she has to."

I bat my eyelashes. "Little, innocent me? Whyever would you think _that_? How could _I_, of all people, scare such _dark_ gentlemen?"

Even Cloud laughs this time. "It may be Shadowcat that convinces them," he says. "She does me."

Reeve shakes his head. "They're more up close and personal kinds of people there, so I'd bet it's the knives they see in their nightmares."

"A sharp blade can hide in many more places than a crossbow," Cid says. "Even that one."

"Men are all alike," I fake pout. "All you see are my assets. If you put it that way, though, I guess I can see your point."

Vincent chuckles. "What matters is that she can do it at all, not how."

Demi snickers and Vincent blushes faintly. "Who's going with you, Captain? Even you're not nuts enough to go by yourself."

I cock my head at Vincent, who nods. Grinning at the open surprise on most of his friends' faces (and my friends'), I add. "And you, Owen. Between the two of you, you ought to impress security enough that I won't have to get nasty with guards."

"You? Get nasty with someone?" Owen says. "Get out."

"Oh, shut up."

I help my Scouts get settled in vacant rooms near mine, and head off to bed myself. Vincent tells me good night, and goes into his room. I wonder, as I drift off, why everyone seems surprised that Vincent is so social with me, and why I'm not surprised at all.

**Tera, Owen, and the Scoutsme. Everybody elseSquare-Enix. I realize this is repetitive, but I have **_**crap**_** luck when it comes to money, so I'm not taking chances.**

_You haven't heard from me in awhile. Hi. I know it's getting long. I sorry. This is where I start worrying about it starting to drag, so if it does in any place, please let me know. I'll take a break from posting for everyone to catch up, and so I can do my other stuff. Please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Hi. Back to it, then! This is where it starts to get interesting. Once more, please review and tell me if it's bogging down anywhere; I feel the pace slowing, but I don't know what to take out. Thanks!

**5**

I wake up in a much better frame of mind than I have been recently. I've just had two nights in a row of peaceful sleep in a real bed, and a full day of Reeve's cooking.

Predictably, Owen is already more than halfway through breakfast when I get out of the shower. "Has he stopped eating since he got here?" I ask Reeve, who hands me a plate, and digs in himself.

"Not that I've noticed," our resident chef replies. "Every time I turn around he seems to be here."

"What are you going to do downtown?" I tease my second. "Seeing Tseng will take a couple of hours, at least."

"I'll live," he replies, casting a mischievous look at Vincent, who is reading the paper. "It'll be worth it to watch Rude and Vincent trying to out-cool each other."

Vincent half-smiles. "I can out-cool **anyone**," he says haughtily. "I even have some to spare to help Tera with Tseng."

I chuckle. Considering his reputation for being solitary, Vincent seems to be enjoying Owen's and my company. "Well, shall we? The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back so Owen can eat again."

I lead my friends straight to the corporation's most recent HQ. Despite the paperwork, I always like to keep an eye on Rufus. The guards decide not to push it when they see Vincent, and don't even try to stop us. There are benefits to traveling with a hero.

The receptionist smiles at me. "Hi, Tera. Tseng's in his office with Rude."

"Thanks, Milla."

Owen frowns at me. "How often do you stop by?"

"Fairly regularly." I snicker at the disapproving look on his face. "Come on. You didn't think I get that privileged information by messenger pigeon, did you?" I shrug. "Besides, Turks won't admit they need a healer."

Vincent snorts. "They're always getting beaten up in the line of 'duty.' I've never met one of them yet who uses healing magic." After a moment's pause, he adds, "Myself included."

I tap on the door of Tseng's corner office and walk in with my two escorts. Rude and Tseng are discussing some reports, but both straighten abruptly when they see Vincent. As Owen predicted, Rude and Vincent seem to be competing for the best air of nonchalance. Vincent seems to be winning, but he has an advantage, being forewarned.

"Vincent Valentine?" Tseng asks me.

"The one and only," Owen confirms.

Rude's partner, Reno, comes in and looks around. "Party, huh?" he says coolly, eyeing Owen, who eyes him right back.

I roll my eyes at the four blatant displays of machismo, and say to Tseng, "Hello. How are you doing lately?"

Tseng laughs. "I'd be doing better if you stopped dropping in without warning," he says. "What can I do for you?"

I summarize our situation, and Tseng winces as I tell him about the escape. "I just wanted to let you know that I know it wasn't you, and remind you that if you find out who _did_, you had bloody well tell me even before you tell Rufus," I finish. "Also, we're moving, obviously, but I'm not telling you where. If you can't find us, you don't deserve to."

Rude chuckles. "No hints?"

I shake my head with a smile. Tseng nods. "Fair enough. I don't suppose you want all this," he gestures at the aforementioned testosterone idiocy, "happening all the time."

I snort. "No kidding."

Rude and Vincent give me almost identical injured looks, but Owen laughs, breaking eye contact with Reno deliberately. "It could only get worse. I can't speak for Tifa or Yuffie, but I know Demi and Tera will crack ribs trying not to laugh at us."

"Well spoken, smartass," Reno says.

"Well, this _has_ been fun," I say, "but it's time for Owen's feeding."

Vincent swirls his cloak and stalks out the door. I laugh. "He did that just to be cool. I'll be slightly less cool, and actually say goodbye." I hug Tseng. "I'll be in touch," I add, as I do the same to Rude. "Rude, for the sake of everyone concerned, but mostly you, don't send anyone to follow us." He only snorts.

Vincent, of course, is right outside the door. "Now what?"

"Let's head back. I'm even hungry now, and I can almost see through Owen." I tilt my head at Vincent. "Was that actual _fun_ you just had there?"

"Me?" He looks startled. "Yeah, it was."

"Why?" Owen asks, and I shake my head. That's not a good question to ask Vincent if you want an answer.

"It's just nice meeting those guys on friendly terms," I say.

Vincent asks, "You've fought before?"

"Yeah. Why else would they be scared of me? The company wanted me and my squad, in that order. I'm not into spying on the 'common folk.'" My eyes narrow. "And there's the fact that I happen to share your opinion of Hojo."

"Really." It's not a question.

"We have _history_ together."

Vincent's eyes go distant, and red. "Did you meet Lucrecia?"

"Once. I could tell from the start that she had a very intense personality, and she was totally gulled by Hojo." I pat his arm. "I'm not just saying that for you, Vincent. Hojo sent her to look me over and talk me around. She might have done, too, except she slipped up and let me see her obsession." I shake my head. "Less practiced then."

Owen chuckles. "Tera does that. She sits there and Listens, which is different than ordinary listening. People try to fill up that innocent silence with words, especially people who like to think they're acting open."

I shrug. "Everyone who hears my reputation and rank thinks I automatically know what they did wrong, anyway." I grin. "Normally, they're absolutely right. But when I'm interested in what they're saying, it throws them off."

I've always found that the ability to talk people's ears off works for me," Owen comments.

Vincent forgets his melancholy to look at Owen. "How's that?"

"People will say the first thing that comes into their heads to shut me up. More often than not, it's something they shouldn't be talking about."

I laugh. "I.e., he keeps talking until they do say something. It's messy, but it does work."

Vincent buffs his gauntlet. "I could find another way."

"I bet you could," Owen agrees. "Thank the gods we're on the same side."

As they continue to tease each other all the way back, I realize that Vincent is a perfect third member for a light Scout squad, which only go in twos or threes. He fits right in, the foil to Owen's smartassness as only another guy could be.


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

Cloud breaks into my thoughts back at the base. "The expected members of your squad have arrived, plus some others," he says. "Also, you have five messages from prospective employers, or clients, or whatever you call them."

"Rich bastards, usually," Owen says.

I study the lists. "Hmm. Don't let Ileana hear you call her that. Not that she isn't, but I'd rather not if I was you."

"Shutty."

The others snicker at Owen, while I go over the new personnel. "We're up to fifteen Scouts, ten runners, and a couple of specialists, not counting myself,"

Owen looks startled. "Really?"

"Yeah. A note here says more are on the way, too. I hope we get more people who can do multiple things, 'cause I don't want us getting near as big as we were last time. It's way too hard to keep track of everyone." I turn to Demi and Owen. "One of you slackers ought to get you Mastery so we can run a combination squad."

"Why are you looking at me?" Demi laughs. "Owen has more experience."

"Not leadership experience. You run Recon, with the most successful retrieval record in Guild history," Owen retorts.

I grin. "You're both right. Demetria, you have more than twice Owen's command experience, since Owen avoids leading anything. However, Owen has almost three times your knowledge of just about every facet of this job that isn't Recon or field scouting. You ought to learn from each other." I wait for the inevitable question.

Owen asks it. "Who do you think will get there first?"

I laugh out loud and say, "Damien." Cloud chuckles at their expressions. "He's better than both of you, but he's been so quiet about it, I doubt anyone's noticed. The only reason I did was because I make a habit of watching anyone who shows potential, like my Master did for me." I grin wickedly at my subordinates' shock. "Oh, I'm not done yet. I've just been waiting for the appropriate time. Since there's so much muddling going on now, this seems a good time to mix things up even more. Damien is getting Recon for a few weeks, and Demetria, you're going to be my proxy." I ride over their protests. "That, of course leaves Owen with Damien's field command." When I see the look my second is giving me, I sigh. "Come on, Owen. There are only five of them at the moment, and they're all experienced and good-natured. Oh, and this won't change hierarchy, so if something happens, you still get to explain to the Council where I am and why everything is going to hell."

Cloud laughs. "To think I doubted your Mastery!" he exclaims. "If you never forgive me, I totally wouldn't blame you!"

"Bah." I wave a hand. "I don't look like a Master anything, Cloud. It's one of the secrets to my success, and part of the reason I have a good feeling about Damien."

Demetria eyeballs me coldly, and finds her voice. "My squad will go ballistic."

I give her a level look until she drops her eyes. "I hope not, since I trained flexibility into all of you."

Owen snaps, "There _are_ specialist Masters, you know."

"Yes, but as you bloody well know, to become one, you have to have a general Mastery as well. The Guild Council hasn't _totally_ lost it . . . yet. Besides, Demi, you're a political naïf, and they will pounce on that. I **will not** allow someone I trained to remain that ignorant." They both seem taken aback at the force in my voice. "Owen, you are way too cocky with the field Scouts. They happen to know what they're doing, even if some of them prefer not to go for their Mastery. After this, you may agree with them."

After a few more meaningless protests, they storm off together, both muttering. I shake my head. "Been called much worse," I tell Vincent, who chuckles ruefully.

"Not as easy as you make it look, is it?" he says. "I can see they both respect you enormously, but. . ."

"Exactly," I sigh. "But. While those two arrogant asses stagnate, Damien has been moving himself around since he joined the squad. In the fifteen years I've known him, he hasn't done one thing for more than six months."

"He, at least sounds serious about becoming a Master, then," Cloud says. "If you hadn't pointed out that specialists need general Mastery, I would have. And I'm not a Scout."

"His arguments tend to get illogical when he knows he'll lose," I say.

Vincent suddenly grins. "What if we proved to them that they're not ready?"

"How?" I ask wearily. "I've done what I can."

"What if you're not here? What if _you_, the Captain, go missing?"

I stare at him. "That's bloody brilliant, Vincent. If Recon does give Damien problems. . ."

"They'd foul themselves, all of them," Cloud finishes. "There's no way a squad with a record like that would risk killing it, especially with you on the line."

I chuckle evilly. "And the Guild will go completely insane if they don't hear from me at least once a week, unless it's registered as a vacation. Owen automatically reverts to Acting Captain. You heard me tell him that."

"What happens when you _do_ go on vacation?" Vincent asks.

"If I'm gone for more than a weekend, it all goes completely to hell," I reply, with another deep sigh. "Owen's a bastard, and not all the squad leaders respect him. He also doesn't have the option I did when they challenged me."

"Kicking them out?"

"Nah. Putting the fear of **me** into them. I'm a terrifying little bitch when I'm angry, and I make no secret of the fact that I fight dirty. Owen can be scary, but he's no match for Eilen or Tarria."

Cloud laughs again. "I believe it. Eilen's the big, bald fella, right? And Tarria's the really muscular woman whose runner is a tiny little skinny guy, Rals, right?" When I nod, he grins. "Let me talk to Reeve. He knows People."

"Call Tseng, too," Vincent suggests. When Cloud gives him a funny look, he shrugs.

"Good ideas, both of them," I reply. "Thanks."

Vincent touches my arm. "Cid wants to see Shadowcat again." He smiles. "If he spends much more time with you two, Shera might get jealous."

"It's not me he's in love with," I laugh. "It's my crossbow."

We head off to Cid's workshop, plotting. Cloud goes off to find Damien and talk to Reeve. I still have to tell my Scout about his new job. Luckily, he takes it much better than the others. "Demi's probably telling Recon I'm Angelus reincarnated," he says. "Sad thing is, some of them would believe her if she told them up was down."

"True," I reply, "but you're not always going to work with people you like, or that like you. Might as well get used to it until you develop the kind of reputation I have, like I did."

"The gods above know there are plenty of people who don't like you, Tera," Owen says, coming up behind us.

"You, for one," Vincent says, in a dangerous tone of voice.

"You know, I don't think I'd disagree at the moment," Owen replies in the same tone.

"Aw, poor sweet baby," Cid says. "Did you find out your captain still has claws?"

Vincent only smiles. I sigh, and say "Owen, don't be such an ass. If you don't like what I'm doing with _my_ squad, quit. I'm sick of you and Demi and Eilen, and gods know who else whining to me when I actually do my fucking job and give orders."

Owen's mouth drops open. I haven't lost my temper with him in ages. Aside from the language, I could be talking about the weather, for as much as my voice has changed. "Captain, I-"

I take Shadowcat back from Cid, gently, and go up to the roof. Vincent finds me in the same spot as last night. He cranes his head to look at me and smiles. I pat the roof next to me, and he hops up. "Long day?"

"Yeah," I sigh. "I'm just sick of my **subordinates** looking at me like I've grown another head every time I give orders."

He looks me over. "Nope. Can't see one."

I smile weakly at him. "Thanks. I'd be exaggerating if I maintained that it was _every_ time, but it sure feels like it."

"You'd be close, if you did," a voice says dryly from below. "Am I in trouble, too, Mommy?" Damien adds when I look down at him.

I laugh. "No. It's just Owen and Demi."

"Usually," Damien shrugs. "They wouldn't be your best friends if you didn't."

"I think that's part of the problem," I complain. "They look at me as a friend, and don't realize that looking after all of you is what I do."

"It's too late to try my approach," Vincent says. "The cool, mysterious front wouldn't suit you anyway. You're too vibrant."

I blink at him, and Damien changes the subject before I can get flustered. We're talking about random, non-Scout things when Demetria comes up. "A word?" Her tone isn't civil, but it's much better than Owen's was.

"Who with?" Damien asks. We've been talking about Midgar and recent history while Vincent rubs my neck.

"More to the point," Vincent says acidly, "are you here to snivel at Tera about legitimate orders again?" I toss a glare over my shoulder at him, and he grins. "May as well get it out there."

Demi flushes. "I take offense at your choice of words. I have commanded the Recon squad for three years; I think I have the right to be disoriented," she says stiffly.

"Sure," I agree. "But you're not entitled to insubordination. I didn't spend eight years busting my ass for a pretty gold token and the right to annoy the Council officially." I pause. Damien and Vincent have cheered me up to the point where I can add, "Though I'll admit that second bit was an added bonus."

"What if it falls apart?" she demands.

"Then _you_ didn't try hard enough," I reply. "You're supposed to be well-rounded; if you're not, you can't blame me. When you lose your temper to the Council, you'll find out _why_ I'm doing this. Since you'll be my proxy instead of a Master, they'll let the first couple of times slide. Those pedantic bastards can disband our squad if I piss them off too badly." I grin. "They won't, because they'll lose ridiculous amounts of revenue if they do, but I've _earned_ that. You haven't." When she continues to glare, I shrug. "You don't own Recon, Demetria. I do."

"Maybe in name," she scoffs.

I laugh in her face. "Oh, really? _I_ hand-picked every last one of them, and I train with them for three months out of the year. I switch with Tindi." I turn to Vincent. "Our other field healer. I'm not stupid enough to be the only one."

"Damien's not you. He's going to fall flat on his face."

I flip over the peak of the roof and pop my head into the top window, which I've stolen as an office. "Ah, Deirdre! Just who I needed! Do you know where the Recon records have gotten to?"

"Yes, Captain. When would you like?"

"Last July, and the November before that."

When I pull my head back up, Vincent makes as if to stand. "This looks like an internal problem. Shall I leave?"

"No worries," I reply, to both of my Scouts' obvious surprise. "Who would you tell? If you would, keep working on my neck, please?" He complies, with a soft chuckle.

Deirdre brings a few small notebooks to the bottom of our perch, and Damien hands them to me, right before Demi can get them. "Thank you." I flip through some pages. "Ah. Here we go. In July, Demi went on vacation to tend to family matters, for three weeks. Normally, her second, Irda, would have taken command, but since I was with the squad for our training period, they insisted I do it. The complaints during and immediately after that period were zero. What is your monthly average, Demetria?"

She scowled, but replied, "Two." Her eyes flashed in Damien's direction, warning him not to say anything. "I don't quite see the point. It was only for three weeks."

"Both of the charges you got last month were fairly serious, and one got political. I have it in your files that the Guild rep assigned to the case said that you handled it badly." I stare at both of my Scouts. "Now, is anyone but the greenies too afraid of me to make a complaint?"

Damien shakes his head, and Vincent says, "I doubt you'd be in this position if they were."

I chuckle. "Sadly, that's all too true. Maybe I ought to be more intimidating. Demi?"

"No. We're afraid of **not** telling you." Even under her resentment, reluctant admiration can be heard.

"That's the good part of being me, I suppose. Now that we've established that my records aren't biased, we'll go on." I flip through the other set of papers. "My brother was in town for the first time in ages the November before last. I took a week off to show him Midgar, and the surrounding area. How would you two describe that week."

Both of them flinch. "It was a total fiasco. Eilen and half of his squad threatened to walk out, and they were only the most vocal," Damien says.

I nod. "I'm _still_ hearing about it, mainly from clients. That's why I have to do some of the easier missions for specific people. They only trust me and a couple of others, including you, Damien, to do their missions. To be brutally honest, Demi, Owen is a _terrible_ proxy. He sends the Guild into fits."

Demi looks at her feet. "Sorry, boss." She hasn't called me that in years.

I shrug, disrupting Vincent, who pokes me. "Eep! Don't be sorry, Demi; just stop doing it."

"You're not going to get an apology from Owen. Being in charge of a field squad is his worst nightmare."

"I know. Why do you think I put him there, and off-rotation? I'll neverget an apology out of Owen. I've gotten used to it." I look at the report again. "**Four** of my senior Scouts got reprimanded when I got back. Because of that, if Eilen had ever wanted to be a Master, he would have been voted down, and he and Owen both came within a hair of being kicked out altogether." I look at Demi. "I might add that I only had seven Scouts that fell under _my_ definition of 'senior,' and you, Damien, and Tindi were the only three **not** to get reprimanded."

Vincent whistles in amazement. "You weren't kidding when you said it was a fiasco," he says to Damien.

Demi turns bright red and takes the notebooks from me. "I'll just, uh, go file these again."

Vincent rubs my shoulder and says, "I understand why all these people respect you."

I grin over my back at him. "No horde of screaming fangirls yet, though."

He only laughs, and works lower on my back. After a bit more talk, Damien excuses himself. "I'm going to go warn my squad that they're getting Lieutenant Sunshine," he says. "Despite the fact that they won't do the same, I can do that much for Owen."

"That's really nice of you, considering Demi probably went right back to telling Recon that you're a demon," I say.

"I'm just a wonderful person like that," he teases.

"Good. The Council has been needling me to find someone they don't want to kill instantly. They'll adore you." I eye him. "Now, why?"

"We can't afford to have the majority of our Scouts going off in a huff, and most of those are either on Eilen's squad or mine. Eilen is going to be more than enough trouble by himself." Damien shrugs. "'Sides, forewarned is forearmed. I _will_ tell my little horde of demonspawn that I expect them to keep their standards up."

I laugh again. "Excellent. Glad to see _my_ standard of infallibility is keeping up. You are getting better and better at assessing situations. The Council will like that, too. Oh, and if Recon deliberately slips up, I will be sure to inform them that they can and will be transferred, possibly to Owen's squad."

Damien grins. "Evil, aren't we?"

"Only when I have to be."


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

After he leaves, I lean into Vincent for a minute. "Thank the gods for that man," I tell him. "If all three of them had argued, I'd have thrown myself off the roof."

"I'd catch you," he replies. "They're not worth it." When I glance back at him, he smiles. His eyes are a soft golden color, and he seems much more relaxed already than the first time we met.

"I knew I'd find you two up here!" Reeve says, popping his head outside. "Come downstairs for dinner."

"See what I said earlier about mothering?" I say to Vincent as we go downstairs.

Reeve hears me, and says, "If you really want rocks for dinner, keep it up." I giggle like a naughty child, and he's smiling.

During dinner, Owen sits clear on the other side of the table, with Yuffie. Demi sits somewhere in the middle. She's not really mad anymore; she just can't bring herself to admit I'm right. Being used to both of them, I ignore them and talk with Tifa and Cloud about the mountain town they're from.

"I can't believe those idiots at the corporation thought no one would notice if the place just popped back up," I say to Cloud. "I mean, there were more survivors than just you two, right?"

"Yeah, but they counted on the tragedy driving us away and the isolated location," Tifa replied. "It worked for me. I only went back because Cloud did."

Cloud smiles at her, and I realize for a second that I'm lonely. Sleeping with any of my Scouts would be improper at best, and the other Masters are few and far between. Seeing the affection between Tifa and Cloud, I miss the action of being a Scout, which is all that keeps me from moping.

Vincent must see something of what I'm thinking on my face, because he nudges me gently. Someone (I'm assuming Cid) has adjusted his gauntlets so he can remove the first joint and use his left hand regularly. "Sickeningly sweet, aren't they?" he says, and Tifa shoots him a dirty look.

Barret, sitting on Tifa's other side, laughs. "That they are, Vince," he says. "But it's better than them fighting, which is just plain miserable."

"True enough," Vincent says. By now, Tifa is beet red, and Cloud is shooting very nasty looks at both of the teasers. But Vincent's plan succeeds in that he makes me laugh. "There," he says softly. "Better?"

I grin sheepishly at him. "I just get this way sometimes. Don't know why." Barret must have decided of his own free will to help me, because he's distracting Tifa and Cloud so Vincent and I can talk. When I glance over, he winks at me, and I smile at him.

"You've had a long day," Vincent says. "All the bad things tend to seem much bigger when you're already upset."

I nod. "Thanks, Vincent." I don't only mean for the bit of wisdom there, but for the whole last two days. He seems to know this, because he only smiles again.

After dinner, I head for the shower. I somehow feel like it's been longer than just a day, and I need the hot water. Suddenly, I have my feet knocked out from under me. Yuffie is sitting on my chest with knives pointed at me before I can gather my wits. "Ha! Gotcha now!" she says. Then I realize those are **my** knives she has. I finally completely lose my temper. As some of the others come to see what the commotion is, they see Yuffie go flying across the hallway, literally. Everyone's jaws are completely slack as I stalk over to her and pluck my knives off her.

"If you touch _anything_ of mine again, I will cut off your fingers," I tell her, then whirl and head off for the shower again. Cloud grabs my arm. "What?"

"What the hell was _that_?" he demands, shaking.

"I have had a screaming bitch of a night, and she just knocked me down and threatened me with my own knives." I stand up slowly, wincing. I have an occasionally iffy lower back, and it didn't like me throwing something that heavy. "Can I get a shower before you kick me out?"

Reeve says, calmly, "I'm not going to throw you out, and this is my place. You just startled everyone. Yuffie weighs at least 120 pounds. She shouldn't be able to fly like that."

"She'll be fine," Tifa confirms what I know already. If I'd been aiming to hurt her more seriously, I have easier ways of doing so, and point this out to Cloud.

"I just wanted her to get off and give my knives back," I say. "I haven't spent this long training my body to not know exactly what I'm capable of." I have a feeling that's what scares them. I sigh. "Tifa, did you see what I did?"

To my relief, the pretty brunette nods. "A basic flip throw. Hard to do, the way she had you held, but the best way to free yourself, I think, without resorting to your other knives." She glares at Cloud.

Vincent is suddenly there, his eyes red and faintly glowing. Everyone else backs off, except me. "Tera, what did she do to you?"

"I'm fine," I say. "Just a bit sore. The last person I did that to was my sensei, and he was a wiry little man." I smile weakly at him, but stare suddenly at where a black eye is developing. "What happened, to you, Vincent?" He looks more than a bit disheveled as I get a good look at him.

"Yuffie talked Owen into distracting me."

"What did you do to him?" I don't sound particularly worried, because I'm not. If he has a black eye, it's because he didn't use all of the abilities he could have.

"Knocked him out. If he can't take Eilen and Tarria, remind me never to piss them off." He sighs.

I echo the sigh, and wince as my back protests. At his start, I say, "I'm fine. It's just a strain. I was going to take a hot shower, anyway, and that will help. You should ice that eye, though, or you won't be able to see tomorrow."

"I'll get to it," he says, coming over to support me. When I tell him it's my lower back, he picks me up gently. "Come on, I'll get you to the bathroom."

Tifa comes over. "If you'll carry her, I'll get her into a bath." She looks sternly at me. "You're not standing up anymore." I agree weakly. "I'm out of magic from earlier, I'm afraid," she adds. "I'm sorry."

"Meh. It's a strain, that's all. I've had worse." I lean my head against Vincent. "Good gods, it's been a long day."

He sets me gently down in the bathroom. "Call me when you need to get her to bed," he tells Tifa. "Be careful, kitten," he tells me softly. "I don't think this is done yet."

Tifa stares after him thoughtfully. "I've never seen him so . . . open before," she says. "You must be good for him. Although I don't know if it would be good if anything happened to you." She bites her lower lip. "I haven't seen him that angry since we defeated Hojo. He's so contained, normally."

"Being angry is probably good for him, too," I comment dryly, half-dressed. I tend to ignore my back when it starts up. "Keeping all your emotions locked inside tends to lead to rather unpleasant explosions."

"You sound like you're speaking from personal experience."

"Right after my brother died, I tried to hold my rage at Hojo in, and I ended up doing something quite unpleasant to the spokesman for Shinra who told us the 'true' story."

"How old were you?" Tifa seems fascinated, and this is helping almost as much as the bath.

"Almost twelve. I started training as a healer that year, and my parents were pleased enough at that. I only ever told my older brother Tiarnan what I really intended. Proper girls don't join the Scouts," I explain when she looks puzzled. She scoffs at that, and I grin. "Just quoting my sister Selene. My mother and other sister felt the same. They fell into the social niceties and rigid rules after Corin died. It was their way of coping, I suppose, but I had a different solution. My father wanted me to work for the Corporation. Me! When he told me I either had to do as he said or leave his house, I left. My mother said nothing to defend me, but Father and Tiarnan had a flaming row about it. He's the only one who still writes, and he visits whenever he can. He's a surveyor up north. He likes the peace of the Ancient's Forest, I think." I lean back, soaking.

Tifa cocks her head at me. "What did you do to the spokesman?"

"Chased him up a tree with Corin's sword. We're from here (I grew up with Rude and Tseng), so I had to leave the city for the first time. I found a sensei to teach me how to channel my anger, stayed with him for a year, and firmed up my plans. I decided to focus on helping all the people the Shinra left in its dust." My eyes flicker for a minute. "I'm almost sorry I didn't meet you all sooner, but I wouldn't have been as much use. I reached Mideel right after you and Cloud left it, learning the secret of lifestream leaf. It took me almost three months to decide that Sephiroth was worse than the company that had made him." When she gasped, I laughed jaggedly. "I was hoping he would get rid of them, really."

"I can see how you would," Tifa admits. "The first thing he did, after all, was to kill Rufus's father. Wait, did you know Rufus? Are they from the City?"

I grin at her. "Yeah, but don't tell Cloud. I don't know what he'd say. Not like we were close or anything. He took Rude and Tseng from me." I sigh. "I already told you what happened when I finally decided we were (temporarily) on the same side."

"How did you become a Master Scout?" Tifa asks.

"I'm forgetting the bulk of my life, aren't I?" I laugh. "I'm used to people knowing about that, since all the Scouts talk about it. I'm the youngest Master in history, and the only female to come out of here." I shrug. "That, and it's a boring story; most of it was training. I was part of a squad in Costa del Sol for awhile, but that was _really_ boring, so I went with a Master who was headed for the plains. Master Armand told me that my parents had legally disowned me, so they couldn't do anything about my return." I shrug when she winces. "I didn't want to be related to a bunch of whining cowards, anyway. Except Tiarnan, who moved away anyway, forfeiting any claim to Father's position." I blink, and add, "Father worked for Shinra. On contract, kind of, but still."

"That explains a lot," Tifa says.

"Yeah. I met my Twenty in that five-year span right before I got my Mastery. Most of them were fresh recruits, in my first command. Master Armand was very impressed that I could command such devotion so young, and he recommended that I go for my Mastery a full four years before he had thought he would. I was nineteen." I sigh. "From the time I had come out of that horrible rage and realized what I was going to do until that day I got it was almost exactly eight years. I've led these people for another ten. I'm almost thirty, and I've slept with two men, one of whom took vicious advantage of me. In some ways, I'm older than my years, but in others, younger."

Tifa calculates for a second, and her eyes widen. "You were fourteen when you got your first command?"

"Yeah. I lied about my age until I got my Mastery, to everyone but Armand. I've always been tall, and my earlier training made me seem older. He said I had enough talent for ten Scouts and I could be whatever age I wanted. He also took the fall for me getting in so young, so I started with my record clean. Eilen is five years older than I am, and he'd honestly do anything I asked him to." I shake my head. "The real reason they started following me is because I had a purpose, and they didn't."

Tifa laughs softly. "When would you have time to make romantic attachments? I knew I would be with Cloud when we were children. Did you feel that with either of those boys?"

"I thought so for awhile, and Tseng and I actually stayed together for a lot longer than we probably were meant to. But I needed someone, and I trusted him. Still do, really." I smile at her. "He's not the one that hurt me. He helped me get over that."

"Friends are good for that," she agrees. "I don't even want to guess the other."

I look at her for a long time before replying. "Don't tell Vincent. I don't know how he'd take it."

She smiles. "I won't. Girl's secret, k?" When I nod in relief, she adds, "Talking about it will probably help, and if your relationship with Vincent goes too much further, you should tell him."

"I'll try, but I've locked the memories away as deep as I could. Bringing them back will not be easy." I stare at my bare knees in the bathtub. "Bugger. Do you have a robe somewhere? I **will** tell you, but I'm turning into a raisin." She giggles, and pokes her head out the door.

"Vincent?" she calls softly, and he appears out of the shadows. "You don't own anything as normal as a bathrobe, do you? Tera needs to talk to me some more, but she'd like to dry off."

"Actually, I found one when I was puttering through storage yesterday," he replies. "It ought to be the right size." He pads off, then returns with a deep green terry-cloth bundle. "I should have given it to you earlier," he tells me with a smile, "but you've been busy."

"Thanks," I reply. The warmth in his eyes as he hands it over to Tifa surprises us. "Tifa, shut the door! It's cold," I tease, winking at Vincent, who smiles and ghosts back into his room.

"He really likes you, Tera," she says, as she helps me into the robe. Feeling the softness of the robe, I wonder to myself. "Tera?"

"I think we should return to my story before he gets worried and hauls me out of here," I say, not mentioning that I think the robe was either never used or he bought it for me. "Besides, I want to get it over with."

"Fair enough," she agrees.

"I met Hojo at the market near the corporation headquarters in Junon. He wasn't nearly dumb enough to tell me who he was, but I suspected he wasn't telling me everything. He was nice enough, but really pushy. When I refused to let him walk me back to my place, I thought that was the end of it." I swallow, and Tifa puts a hand on my knee.

"Are you all right? You've had a bad day."

"All the more reason to get it out now," I say hoarsely, "seeing as it gives me nightmares when I've had a long day." I clear my throat, and force myself to continue. "I left the fortress city the next day, and went to Costa del Sol, thinking a bit of surf and sun would help me. I was still training, though I was a full field healer by then, and it was one of my few vacations away from my Scouts." I add, dryly, "One of the last I could have without worrying about whether everything was going to hell. That was Eoin's problem, not mine."

Tifa chuckles. "Make it someone else's problem. Tell the Guild that if they have _any_ problems, it's on Owen's head. It'll make him more cautious, if nothing else. But you're changing the subject." She gives me a mock-stern frown. "Get back on topic."

"Hojo found me there. He must have put something in my drink, because when I woke up, I was tied up in the basement of one of the houses, naked. I had no idea if he'd already had his way with me, or whether he was waiting for me to wake up." I start shaking, and Tifa has to put both of her hands on my shoulders to steady me.

"You don't have to go into details," she soothes. "Just getting it out at all will help."

"I couldn't do anything," I wail softly. "I can flip Yuffie clear across the room, and she was expecting something, and to this skinny little gnarled twig of a man, all I could do was cry and beg him not to hurt me." I stand up carefully, and turn around. Tifa gasps as she sees the scar across my back. "That was a red-hot whip. He only hit me once with it, I think, but I lost consciousness from the pain. When he brought me back, he did what he had brought me down for, so hard that my back is still not all well. I think he impacted my spinal column." I'm crying, and Tifa's holding me, smoothing my hair.

"Hush, hush," she keeps saying. That being so close to what Tseng said when I told him, it soothes me better than just the words. That, and the feel of the robe around me and knowing I have at least twenty people who would do everything in their power to keep anything like that from happening again. I feel much better than I did the last time I told this story, because I'm with someone who actually got my vengeance for me.

"He killed my brother, Tifa. It was only Reeve and another advisor, who died before I became acquainted with them, who got the body returned to us. After he was done with me, he looked through my things. When he saw my name, he just laughed. I had my chance for revenge, and I couldn't stand up to take it. Even if you had healing magic left this night, all it would have done is dull the pain. Two different healers in Mideel tried to heal me, and they couldn't." I'm still shaking, but the tears are gone. "He's left his mark on me, and would have done more. . . but. . ."

Tifa asks, gently, "What is it?"

"I miscarried, two months into the pregnancy. And, despite it being a child, and innocent, I couldn't help but be glad. I don't know what I would have done to the baby if it had lived. The doctors said that, physically, it was for the best that I couldn't carry to term. I'm too small, and I was even smaller then."

"You said it was before you got your Mastery?" I nod, and she gasps, "How old were you? Seventeen?"

"Sixteen, and just. I had taken the vacation for my birthday."

"Oh, Tera," Tifa says softly. "I'm so sorry. If we could go back and kill him again, I would take you and we would do it."

I smile, weakly. "Tseng tried, and it almost got _him_ killed, so I'm kind of glad we can't. The man still scares me, and I don't think I could have faced him."

Tifa smiles at me. "Then I'm glad we did it for you." She looks me over. "Well, you don't look like your bath got rid of all your troubles, but you look better, so I suppose that will do. Let's get you to bed."

Vincent does look worried when Tifa calls him back, but when I reassure him that my back feels much better, and my talk with Tifa made me feel emotionally better, too, he smiles. "Good. Let's get you to bed." He lays me gently in my bed and tucks me in. To my surprise, he then sits in the large chair between the bed and the door. "I told you I don't think this is over yet, and you're in no shape to defend yourself right now."

"You need sleep," I protest, but softly. Even after exorcizing my Hojo demon again, company will be more than welcome in case the memories come back in dreams anyway. "If you get tired, wake Damien. He's next door." I sit up, sending a jolt of pain through my back. "Owen was involved in this! Is Damien okay?"

"He's fine," Vincent says. "Lie down. I've been checking on him, too." He looks at me oddly. "Do you have, er, special feelings for him?"

I blink. "Lord of Lights, no!" I reply. "He's a wonderful person, but more like family. Besides, I know all of my Scouts waaaay too well to feel that way for them," I finish with a laugh. "Why?"

"You just seem very fond of him," Vincent says. I catch a slight something in his voice, but I'm tired, and can't stay awake to wonder. I drift off to sleep, with Vincent Valentine standing watch over me again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Quick warning: The "M" starts meaning something here. There will be sexual content coming up here soon.**

**8**

He's there, still awake, when an indistinct bad dream wakes me up near dawn. All I know is that I'm suddenly awake, and sweating. "Tera?" Vincent says, gently. "Are you all right?"

"Bad dream," I mutter. I see Hojo's face flash in front of my eyes, and gasp in spite of fifteen years of training in control.

Vincent reaches out for me. "You're awake now," he says. "I'm here, and I won't let anything that's not a dream get you." He touches my hair with his gauntlet, which he draws back slightly in surprise.

"Thank you, Vincent," I say softly, "for everything." To myself, I think, _Especially for finishing Hojo. _I go back to sleep, knowing he's there to look after me.

When I really wake up, he's asleep in the chair, and it's ten in the morning. I can usually just tell, somehow, what time it is. Damien is poking his head in. "Oh, sorry, Captain," he says. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," I yawn. "I was waking up anyway." I eye Vincent. "If my back didn't hurt, I'd demand you help me toss him into bed, but I doubt you could lift him without waking him." Damien smiles.

"You're feeling better, then." He sounds more than relieved.

"Oh, lord. What's happening?"

Damien winces, and says, "Owen had to be tied to a chair to prevent him doing anything stupid. He didn't think Yuffie was actually going to hurt you."

"She might not have been meaning to," I admit. "When I saw my knives in her hands, I sort of lost it. I really hurt myself. You know how my back is."

"Yeah, Tifa told him that, but he's not hearing sense right now."

"Damn. I'll go talk to him. Hang on." I touch Vincent's face gently. "Wake up, Vincent."

His eyes open immediately. "How long was I out?"

"Not sure. Damien tells me Owen's being suicidal, so I really need to get down there, but I didn't want to go and have you wake up with me gone."

He blinks at me, then smiles slightly. "Thank you." He stands up and stretches. "Here, I'll help you."

We make our tottery way downstairs, and I grimace at Vincent's black eye, in full sunlight. "You didn't ice that, did you."

"No. I was worried about you."

"Can you see out of that eye?" I ask tartly.

He squints for a minute, then says sheepishly, "Not really."

"Twit." Tifa, overhearing me, chuckles and heals the black eye.

"As a favor to Tera," she says to him. I thank her, and follow her down to my second. "I don't know if he'll even listen to you, now," she warns me, "and letting Yuffie near him would be insanity."

"I imagine," I reply. "She somehow talked him into violating a vow he made to me fifteen years ago. Even if Damien hadn't told me, I would have known he was like this." I step toward the door, then turn to Vincent. "Tifa will help me," I tell him gently. "I'm not sure him seeing you won't make things worse."

"Okay."

"Go get something to eat, and tell Reeve to make Owen some breakfast. He'll eat if I have to force-feed him." I walk into the room where they have Owen confined, and wince. He's definitely done more damage to himself than Vincent could have. His veins are standing out as he tries to get free of the ropes. "Owen," I say, softly.

His head jerks up, and he sees me walking upright. "Oh, Tera," and to Tifa's shock, he stops fighting the bonds and just cries helplessly. I cut him loose and hold him, with a sigh. "I'm so, so sorry," he whispers to me. "I didn't know what she was going to do, and I was so angry. . ."

"Owen, you idiot," I scold gently. "I'm fine. I hurt myself. I'm not sure what she was going to do, but I flipped her over my head when I saw that she'd taken my knives. You know how I get when people mess with my stuff." He looks up at me, and I smile. "I strained my silly back again, that's all, I promise. I got a good talk with Tifa, a hot bath, and a lovely new robe out of it, so I'll call it a draw."

"Are you sure?" he asks, sounding hopeful.

"I've strained it enough times to know by now, goose," I reply. "I believe you when you say you didn't know, Owen, and I know you would have been the first person to me if Vincent hadn't hit you over the head."

"Did I hurt him?" I blinked at the question, and Owen lowered his voice. "I can tell you like him, and I was being flat nasty."

I chuckle. "A black eye, and a cracked rib, if I'm any judge." Tifa gasps, and I laugh. "Ask this lad here; it's fairly hard to hide injuries from me." Owen nods, ruefully. "Thank you for healing it without embarrassing him," I add. "Boys are so silly that way. He'd rather hurt like hell than let me be mad at Owen for hurting him."

Owen said, "Really?"

"Yeah. He was furious with Yuffie, and clearly the whole thing is her fault. What did she tell you, Owen?" Tifa asks.

"Just that he'd interfere if she did anything to, um, 'take Tera down a peg,'" he says, blushing. "I was still mad, and I thought she'd do something like I do when I'm annoyed at you." At Tifa's questioning look, he adds, "Pranking. I put an eel in her pillow case once." He grins as I shudder.

"You couldn't know how they were introduced," Vincent said, bringing in a tray. "Reeve says if you resist this, your wake is on Friday." It was a smothered omelette with fresh hash browns and cheese all over everything. He'd also included orange juice and toast.

I chuckle. "Certainly knows the way to your stomach, doesn't he, Owen?" Indeed, my friend is staring at the food like he's never seen it before.

Then he looks up at Vincent. "I'm sorry I took my temper out on you," he says. "I could have really hurt you."

Vincent shrugs and hands him the tray. "I'm durable enough, and I didn't exactly knock you out gently." He turns to Tifa. "Did I give him a concussion?" She shakes her head, and I laugh.

"He's got a very solid skull, does Owen," I say lightly. "He's been whanged over the head before, and undoubtedly will be again." Owen is plowing head first into his food. "You're getting easier to talk around," I tease. "Maybe I should take Reeve with us if we leave."

"If anything serious had happened to you," he says, looking up from his half-finished breakfast, "no one would have been able to stop me."

I blink back sudden tears and move the tray to hug him hard. "I feel the same about you, you idiot," I whisper to him. "You've been my best friend for fifteen years; don't you think I'd miss you a little? I'm sorry I gave you such short notice on the changes; I knew you wouldn't take it well, but-" Owen cuts me off.

"But nothing, Tera. You're my captain. I should follow your direct orders; you give them so seldom. I was awful, even before this." He shakes his head. "Now stop being gushy on me, woman," he orders, sounding hoarse.

"Sorry," I say. "But you looked horrible when I came in, even worse than when. . ."

"I know. You mean more to me than I would admit under any other circumstances," he says sheepishly. "I'll deny it if you tell anyone, but I love you like a sister."

I grin at him. "I'll make mention of it at your wedding; how's that?" He snorts. Owen's always maintained that all nine hells will reverse temperature before he marries anyone. Ever.

Vincent looks relieved when I stand up with little difficulty, pulling Owen up with me. "I'm glad everyone's okay," he says. Then he gives me a stern look. "You, however, still have a strained back. I will dig up any book you want, and Reeve will cook you anything, but you are going back to bed."

I pout at him. "I'm fine. Got to exercise it out." He snorts and picks me up. "Hey!"

"Owen, could you please get the door?"

"Glad to."

"This is _not_ fair," I protest. "Owen, you know I hate being trapped in bed!"

"So? As I recall, the last time you did this, Eilen offered to sit on you if you wouldn't stay there. I can always go get him."

"I hate you all." Tifa is only laughing, quite hard. "What's so funny?"

"You. They do listen to you if it's life and death, but when you're hurting yourself, you can't get anyone to help you." She grins. "Not even me."

I sulk in Vincent's arms (not an easy feat) most of the way up to my room. When he puts me on my bed, though, I can't repress a flinch when my back moves. "See? It feels worse when you exercise it," he says ruthlessly. "Now rest, or _I'll _sit on you." He plops down in his chair. "I'll stay right here, so don't think of escaping."

"You didn't get much sleep," I retort. "I'll wait till you fall asleep again."

"I don't need much sleep," was his calm reply. "You'll fall back asleep before I do." He takes a book from the shelf next to him and opens it, reading.

I try to continue sulking, but the mattress feels so much better than standing did, and Vincent is obviously trying not to laugh at me. "Go ahead and laugh," I say. "I'm being silly, but I _really_ hate being bedridden."

He smiles. "I do, too. And you are being silly, but it's kind of-" He stops suddenly and blushes.

"Kind of what?" He ducks his head and doesn't answer. "Vincent, kind of what?" I pester him. "Come on, I won't leave you alone until you tell me!"

"You'll be offended," he protests weakly.

"I very much doubt it," I reply. "Tell, tell."

"All right, all right." He's crimson, and won't look at me. "It's kind of cute, okay?" I stare at him for a minute. "Stop looking at me like that!" he says and hides behind his book.

I say, lightly, "I'll have to stop teasing Owen about his methods. Being annoying really does work." I touch his knee, and he jumps. "Why are you blushing, Vincent? You were teasing me about my hips yesterday."

He mumbles something indistinct, and I cock my head at him. "I could tease you when you were dressed," he says irritably. I look down. The robe is covering everything that needs covering. He glances at me, then turns red again.

Light dawns. "I'm the leader of a bunch of boys that I've all trained in the wilderness with, Vincent," I say gently. "I've been naked in front of them dozens of times. I forgot it would make someone else uneasy. I spend too much time just with Scouts, I guess. I'm sorry. I would have been more modest last night, had I remembered."

He looks up at me. "It's not your fault," he says. "You were taking a bath."

I chuckle. "Fair enough. We'll blame Tifa for opening the door so wide, then. I don't know what her excuse is, though."

He meets my eyes. The red in his cheeks is fading, but he still looks embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Oh, hush. I don't get many people to tell me I'm cute, at any time," I say. "I'm sorry I embarrassed you." I lean over him to snag a book I see and have been meaning to read, and over balance and land in his lap. Now I'm the one who's blushing. "You can't think I planned that?" I say plaintively.

Vincent smiles and rights me, then freezes as we come eye to eye. His eyes are truly deep gold, and this is the first time I've had to get a good look at them. I am stunned, and my cobalt blue eyes are obviously having the same effect on him. "Um-" he starts. I put a finger gently over his lips, which are smooth and soft.

We stare at each other for another long moment, then he leans forward and kisses me. My arms come up around his neck, and his come up to stroke my hair. It's a very long kiss, and we're both breathless and confused when we stop. He sets me back on my bed with my book and just looks at me for a long time. "I'm sorry," he finally says. "You've been having a rough week, and I just took advantage of you, and-" I cut him off by kissing him.

When we stop again, I say, gently, "You are not taking advantage of me, Vincent. I've been taken advantage of." I blush. "It doesn't feel this good." He stares at me. "I didn't know that was going to happen any more than you did, but I'm not upset about it. Especially since you're such a good kisser," I add, turning even redder.

He laughs softly, saying in a low voice, "Am I?" This time, he comes over to the bed, and just strokes my hair, looking at me for a full minute at least before kissing me again, harder. When we part, he's on top of me, on the bed. "Oh, lord, Tera," he says, and, to my shock, buries his face in my hair and shakes. I hold him, realizing that I must be the first person he's kissed since Lucrecia.

Running my hands through his silky black hair, I murmur soothing words to him. When he looks up at me, I smile at him. "If anything, I'm taking advantage of you. I was lying here, annoying you, until you said something you didn't mean to."

Vincent laughs weakly. "That's an understatement," he says. "We shouldn't- I'm not-"

I hush him again. "We'll take it slowly," I tell him softly. "But don't tell me this isn't right, Vincent Valentine," I say, suddenly fierce. "I haven't felt anything like this in so long." Then I realize what had been in his eyes when he'd asked me about Damien last night. "Besides," I whisper to Vincent, "you're far enough gone to be jealous. You can't say it was just a passing fancy and make me believe you."

He blushes again, but doesn't pull away from my embrace. "I bought you the robe, too," he says. "I saw it when I was out wandering, and I thought you'd like it."

"I thought so," I say, with a little laugh. "It showed in Tifa's face, a little."

"I know. She's been telling me to tell you how I feel. I just met you, Tera. How can this happen so fast?" He holds me still, denying what he obviously wants.

"I don't ask, Vincent," I reply, pulling him closer. "I just know that this feels right, and that I knew when I woke up the other night and saw you at the door that something was going to happen. I didn't know it would be this, but I'm not complaining."

He laughs. "Everyone has noticed the change in me. I just thought it was because I'd found a friend."

"That, too," I say. "The best lovers are also friends." I kiss him again, forgetting my earlier promise to take it slow, seeing him looking at me with those eyes. When we part again, we hear soft laughter. Tifa is standing in the door, and she looks delighted.

"It's about damn time," she says. "I wasn't sure if I'd have to whack one of you over the head!"

I smile, and Vincent blushes again. "Oh, stop that. We're going to go out in public, eventually, and you won't hear the end of it if you don't stop going red at random." I brush his hair back from his forehead. "You have such soft hair."

"Thank you," he says softly, to me or Tifa, I can't tell. She only smiles and closes the door after her as she leaves.

I kiss him harder, reveling in the feel of his lips, the taste of him. "Oh, lord. Vincent, go back to your chair with your book," I whisper to him. "Before I throw self control completely out the door."

"Don't tempt me," he murmurs back, caressing one of my breasts, which has slid free in our enthusiastic kissing. I gasp, and he smiles, and goes back to his chair.

"Evil," I mutter to him, and he laughs.

"It's evil to make you feel good?" he asks, innocently.

"It is if you won't follow through," I say tartly.

"I told you, don't tempt me," he replies, trying to read.

_Awww... I think they're cute. Anyway, that's it out of this batch. Two more to go! _


	9. Chapter 9

_**Note:** Okay...hrmmm... It's starting to bog down...I think. I can't really tell. I like all this coming up here, but I wrote it. Anyway, I know it gets naughty from here on out, so...if sex offends you for some reason, you're about done. There's more than just that here, but it's strictly "M" rated. Sorry, but it's kinda how the story went..._

**9**

When Owen comes up with our lunches a half hour later, we're both giving the impression that we've been reading and talking the whole time. "How is the invalid?" Owen asks Vincent cheerfully.

"Grouchy," he replies with a laugh for my expression. "But she's been reading for the last few minutes, so I've gotten some peace at least."

"If I didn't hurt, Vincent Valentine," I growl, "I would throw a pillow at you."

"I see what you mean, Vincent," Owen says. I pick my book back up, and make a great show of reading, muttering about stupid boys. "Fine, then," Owen teases. "I won't give you lunch. I am more than capable of eating more of Reeve's cooking."

"You're only making fun of me because I can't do anything about it," I grumble. "It's not fair, and don't think for a minute I won't remember this the next time you're laid out with something. I'll put frogs in your soup."

Vincent laughs, and takes my lunch from Owen and sets it gently on my lap. "Here. If you don't eat it yourself, Reeve might cry." I dig in. I know the fastest way to regain strength is to eat as much as I can, and to rest.

Owen eyes Vincent thoughtfully. "Vincent, can I talk to you outside the room for a sec?" I stop eating to glare a warning at him. "I won't hurt him, Captain," he says. "I just want to talk to him."

I sigh. "You may as well get the first one over with now. Scouts gossip like maiden aunties, and they all seem to think I can't take care of myself. You'll be getting variations on this theme for the next month or so."

Vincent only smiles at me and follows Owen out. I hear Owen's voice raise, but not the words. Vincent comes back in, looking the same, while Owen looks a bit shaken. "Okay," my second says. "I'm satisfied."

I cock my head at Vincent as Owen leaves. "What did you tell him?"

"Just the truth," he replies, and refuses to elaborate. Four more of my Scouts come by, haul him off, and come back saying that they were totally happy with his answer. Two even congratulate me.

I shake my head after the last, Eilen, leaves, looking like he's swallowed an eel. "Never mind; I don't really want to know."

Vincent touches my cheek. "No, you really don't," he says softly. For a minute his eyes look sad.

"You had better not be telling them that you're going to let me down gently the first minute you can!" I say, with more than a little heat.

He laughs. "I'm not suicidal, love. If you didn't get me, Tifa would." He kisses me. "I still can't believe this is real," he says. "I'm afraid I'm going to wake up."

I cuddle close to him. "I know how you feel." I frown for a minute. "Oh. Tseng might give you a bit more than the standard talk. We had a bit of a thing, and he knows me better in some ways than Owen does." I look off into space as I think of what Tifa told me. I ought to tell him, but I'm afraid to.

"Tera? What is it?" Vincent's voice cuts into my thoughts. I look up at him, and smile at the concern on his face.

I'm about to say, "Nothing," when Reeve comes to pick up our lunch trays.

"I hear congratulations and threats are in order," he says. "Since I don't know which one of you to threaten, because you're both close friends, please don't ever make me have to choose." He winks at me. "Don't let Vincent change too much."

Vincent watches him leave, puzzled. "What does he mean? Aren't these changes good things?"

"Mostly," I say. Reeve knows about Tseng. "But if you change too much, you're not the same person I fell for. It happened with Tseng. He made a lot of changes to make Elena happy, and she turned out to like the old him better. So did I, for that matter."

"Ah. But I don't want to shut you out, or anything." We're both so inexperienced at this. No wonder Tifa's been playing matchmaker.

I say something to that effect to Vincent, then add. "Just take one step at a time, like anything else, Vincent. We'll be fine."

He kisses me and says, "This, at least, is not at all complicated." He kisses me again, and then laughs. "Except knowing when to stop doing it."

"Never," I breathe, pulling him in.

"You realize my fangirls are going to kill you, right?" he says, some time later. "They all think they, specifically, are the ideal woman for me."

"What, all of them?" I retort. "Well, that's too bad for them that they're wrong, isn't it?"

Vincent laughs at the tone that has come into my voice. "Feeling possessive, dear?"

I growl at him, "Very. Don't tease me, or I'll mark you as mine for everyone to see." I kiss him again, fiercely. "I don't want to stop touching you," I say wistfully, "but I should, or the next person to stop by will find us in a compromising position."

Vincent laughs softly, then teases, "Do you want me to not change the fact that I almost never smile or laugh?"

"That's not personality; that was melancholy," I say. "I hope I've cured you of that." He solves the "compromising position" problem by snagging his book, draping an arm around me, and settling on the bed to read. I follow his virtuous example and pick up my own book again.

Cloud is the next person to come bother us, and he wants to lecture me. I laugh, and shoo Vincent out. "There. What phrasing did you plan to use?"

Cloud doesn't smile. "I'll stick with the basics: If you ever do anything to break that man's heart, I will rip yours out," he says quietly. "If you're just toying with him, so help me-"

I cut him off. "I'm not. I'm not even sure how this all happened, Cloud, but I promise you I am not toying with anyone. The last serious relationship I was in was almost seven years ago, and I'm just as awkward at this as Vincent is."

He scoffs, "You could have any man you laid eyes on."

"If I tried, maybe, but has it occurred to you that I might be afraid to?" I study him for a minute. "Tifa can't tell you what I told her because only two other people besides her and me know it. Don't be upset because she won't." He scowls at me, and I add, so softly he has to lean closer, "And I'd rather slit my own throat than hurt Vincent." I have a bit of thought to spare wondering if this is what Vincent's been saying about me.

He blinks at me. "That's rather more than I expected, but I believe you," he says.

As he turns to go, I look up and say, "Thank you for going after Hojo and letting Vincent get the last shot in." He stares at me for a long minute, but I'm looking at the bed again.

Vincent returns, and, seeing my expression, glares at Cloud. "What did you say to her?"

"It's not his fault, love," I reply. Cloud twitches at the pet name. "Come in and close the door. I have something to tell you."

I tell him even more than I told Tifa, forcing myself into revealing the details. Then I tell him about Tseng. "I was so totally lost," I say, "and he has been my friend since we were little. When he reached out to help me, I reached back."

"I'm glad he did," Vincent says, gently wiping tears away from my face with his hand. "You needed someone, and he was there for you. He's a good man, if a bit too committed to the corporation's causes."

"He still has lingering feelings for me, although you'd have to pull his fingernails off to get him to admit it. That's why I warned you about him getting all protective about me. Because he will." I chuckle. "Rude might, too, but that's just because he _is_ like an older brother."

"We need to ask them about our master plan anyway, so we'll go see them when you're up and about again, just you and me, okay?" When I nod slowly, Vincent smiles. "They're important to you, even if no one else sees it. They are a happy tie to your childhood."

"What I had of it," I agree, and tell him about my family. Then I laugh, and describe Tiarnan to him. "That's my older brother. If he stops you in the street and lectures you, don't be alarmed. He tends to be abrupt, and he's in town every once in a while." I shake my head. "I swear, Owen is sending him secret dispatches; he's as well-informed as Tseng, at least."

"Well, you don't have to worry about my family," Vincent says. "They're all gone." He looks at me for a long minute. "You never ask about any of this," he says, gesturing with his gauntlet. "Why not?"

"Frankly, because I figured you're bloody sick of it by now," I reply. "You are not what most people think you are, and that," I caress the gauntlet, "is just part of you."

Vincent smiles. "That's part of the reason I like you," he says. "It doesn't sound all that romantic, but logical thought does have its charms." I laugh, and he kisses me. "That part of my life has made me into who I am, though, and you've just told me your whole life story, so I should do the same for you."

I am possibly the first person to hear the whole story from Vincent's perspective, and what he tells me about Hojo makes me even gladder the man is gone. Vincent suffered as much or more physical abuse than I did. Though she mostly did it for her own research, Vincent would have been dead if not for Lucrecia. "The last thing she said to me before I saw her in that crystal was, 'I'm so sorry,' but it didn't stop her from doing it."

I hold his face in my hands for a long moment. Soft, golden eyes gaze at me, and I realize that, while he's still bitter about it, it's not an obsession anymore. "Can I see that place?" I hesitate to ask, but it's an important part of who he is.

"If you really want to," he says. "All she ever talks about is her son. I told her what happened with all that, but she refuses to think that he could be evil." He shakes his head. "I think she really believed Hojo when he said they were bringing a bright new future in."

"She had to, or she would have to admit to herself that Hojo was a demented bastard, and that her child was going to destroy cities." I rub his neck. "I don't want to go if it's going to upset you."

"No. I go every so often, anyway. You can just come with me from now on." He smiles at me, and the shadows in his eyes clear. "Maybe she'll be jealous for a change." He suddenly pins me gently to the bed. "Enough about her." He kisses me for a long time, then moves his lips down my throat to my collarbone as I gasp.

"Slowly, remember?" I manage, and he laughs deep in his throat, and keeps right on, nibbling my collarbone and tracing his tongue back up my throat. I'm about ready to die from combined sensation and frustration on the spot. I free my hands and reach them under his shirt and brush his chest, feather-light, teasing his nipples with the edge of a fingernail. It is my turn to laugh as he shudders with pleasure. "Turn about is fair play," I tell him.

"True enough," he says, lying down next to me. "I'm caught between two extremes: One half of me wants to take this a little step at a time, savoring all the feelings, and the other wants to explore every inch of you right now." He laughs again as I whimper at both thoughts. "I'll probably do the first. I don't want to breeze past any of this."

I snort. "You breezed by just kissing pretty damn fast," I say hoarsely.

"Did I?" Damien walks in on us as Vincent's proving how wrong I am.

"Am I interrupting?" my Scout asks dryly. "So sorry."

"Are you here to threaten him with doom, too?" I ask. "If you are, can you come back later?"

Damien laughs. "No, or I would. I'm actually happy for both of you, and I know you can both take care of yourselves and each other. I came on actual business."

I pout. "Oh, bugger business," I grumble. "Okay, okay. What is it?"

"Lady Ileana is here to see you, and you specifically."

"Did you tell her I'm incapacitated?" I ask. When he snickers, I sigh, "For Scout missions, pervert. Because of my back, remember?" I add, acidly, "And for your information, I'm not even up to that, and you can tell that gossip Owen that, too. I still hurt, you know."

Damien says, "I'm sorry, Captain. You just left that wide open. I had to take it. Yes, I told her you had strained your back, and she said it wasn't an active sort of thing she wanted to discuss."

"Interesting. Will she come up here? I'm under threat by no less than four people not to leave this bed." I give him a look before he can snicker again. "To be honest, I don't think I can stand for more than a minute or two."

"I think so. I'll go get her, and you can make yourself presentable."


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

"I hate my Scouts sometimes," I say to Vincent, who chuckles. "He's right, though. A bathrobe will not create the right impression. Remember what I said about my lack of modesty? Do you think you could emulate it and help me get dressed?" When he grins at me, I add, "It'll only take a few minutes for her to get here, so behave."

"You're no fun," he teases, and helps me get properly dressed. Before I pull my shirt on, he wraps a bandage tightly around my lower back. "Just in case," he murmurs, caressing my breasts.

I slap his hands. "Be good." Pulling my shirt over my head, I sit up in bed, and Vincent resumes his chair. When Lady Ileana Talon walks in, everything is in order. "Lady Ileana. So good to see you. My apologies for not rising to greet you, but I think Vincent would be very put out with both of us if I tried."

She is absolutely beautiful, with honey-blond hair and large brown eyes. She also _doesn't_ have a slightly crooked nose, too long for her face, and scars everywhere. "Captain Balia. I'm sorry you're not well. I will not offend your friend," she turned a dazzling smile on him, "by insisting you do anything at all." She gracefully takes the other chair in the room. Her constant smiles and coy looks to Vincent are grating on my nerves, but that doesn't surface in my voice.

"What can I do for you, my Lady?" I smile back at her, and Vincent winks at me when she isn't looking at him. "I will probably not be able to perform missions for at least a week, probably longer. This is a recurring problem, I'm afraid."

When he's not reassuring me, Vincent is going for the statuesque approach, and it seems to fascinate her Ladyship. "Oh, excuse me." She flutters, and I wait patiently. "Your friend reminds me of someone, I think." Her eyes widen. "Wait, did you say his name was Vincent?" I grin at him as he tries valiantly not to groan. "Vincent Valentine? The Vincent Valentine?" She is addressing him directly.

"I'm fairly sure there is only one of me, my Lady," he says. His voice is polite, but distinctly cool. "My friend Tera requested my company to cheer her up and amuse her while she's trapped abed." The sideways look she gives him says a lot about her opinion of his ability to cheer anyone up.

I smile. "Vincent also keeps people from bothering me with trivial matters. As you could guess, he's quite good at it." It's not even a tiny hint, just a statement of fact, but she glances at me with alarm.

"I will not waste any of your time, Captain. I need to borrow your Reconnaissance squad. A friend of mine is missing, and no one else seems to want to do anything about it." She leans toward me and smiles. "Yours is the best. I would feel more comfortable if you were able to command them yourself, of course, but as it is a rescue mission, time is of the essence."

I nod. "As one of my dearest clients," I say, "I feel I must tell you that we are in the middle of serious reorganization at the moment, and Demetria, who you have dealt with before, is not heading up the Recon squad at the moment. Damien, the young man you just met, is well on his way to earning his Mastery, and he will be working with Recon right now."

"Far be it from me to decry your internal changes," Lady Ileana trills. "As long as they are still the best, I do not care who the leader is."

"I brought this up because there may be some conflict at the beginning. I feel sure that their professionalism and pride will overcome personal doubts, but in case I am wrong, I will assure you that anyone who does not perform to the fullest of their ability will have me down on them like Judgment Day, bad back or no." Vincent raises an eyebrow at my frankness with this woman, but says nothing.

"Thank you for the warning, Captain," the lady says. "I appreciate that you wouldn't tell this to just anyone."

"Well, you've hired Recon a few times, so you know their normal standard. If they seem to be deviating from that or causing Damien any trouble, do not hesitate to tell me." I smile at her again. "I expect no problems, but it is always best to prepare for the inevitabilities of the job."

"Of course." She stands up. "Well, I will not bother you further. I will give the name and description to Damien, then?" I nod, and she gives Vincent another measuring look. "If I could speak to you, sir?" He glances at me, and I shrug.

"Yes, my Lady." He follows her out.

Outwardly, I am quite calm and seem amused. Inside, I am repressing the need to stove in the woman's head with my bedstead. Tifa finds me in this state of mind awhile later. Vincent still hasn't come back. She takes a look at my face, and laughs. "You can drop the pretense, Tera. She's out of hearing range."

I swear quite colorfully. "She didn't annoy me so badly last time," I complain to Tifa, who laughs.

"She makes my fingers twitch, too, dear. She's talking to both of them now, so I thought I'd come up and talk to someone who understands my sudden, homicidal urges." Tifa sighs. "Does she make every woman feel like that?"

"Like a chunky farmwife with no remarkable features, covered in cow dung?" I ask. "Oh, yes. She and Demi actually get along, but she drives me straight up a wall. Probably because before she set her sights on heroes, she enjoyed tweaking Owen's and Eilen's noses. She's part of the reason they hate each other." I sigh. "Aside from that, she's amazingly competent, and she's an excellent client, because she knows exactly what she wants, and has consistent standards." I shrug. "I like her when she's nowhere near any male I have any kind of relationship with. Damien should be all right, though. His parents kept throwing women like that at him before he finally took off to be a Scout."

"Did any of you have normal childhoods?" Tifa asks.

"Not really. It's probably why we all mesh so well," I say. I grin at her. "Shall we go be jealous wenches in public? I'm bored, and if Vincent's going to follow her around like a puppy, I'll be naughty and get out of bed."

Tifa shakes her head. "You won't impress anyone if you fall flat on your face."

"Sad, but true," I agree ruefully.

Tifa looks at me for a long minute, then smiles. "I'm sure she doesn't impress Vincent at all. You're more his type."

"Thanks for the reassurance," I say dryly, "but it's rather hard to believe when I'm beat all to hell, still not looking exactly like a beauty queen due to unforeseen circumstances from last week, and can't stand straight without crying." I fold my arms around my knees. "I keep telling myself I'm being ridiculous, but I've never encountered her when I had someone who was mine to speak for."

"I feel the same way, and at least you know her. This is my first encounter at all," Tifa points out, her eyes suddenly looking larger and vulnerable.

I chuckle. "This will lead to us lying down and bawling any time she gets near either of them. It has to be pheromones. Hmm. What can I do that's constructive and fulfilling here?" I look around my room. "Cleaning Shadowcat would be a **bad** idea, since it leads to violent thoughts, and ditto to the knives and such. Mending makes me feel even more like a dowdy housewife, and my back isn't up to cleaning." I turn to Tifa. "Any thoughts?"

She's staring at me thoughtfully. "Yeah. Do you ever wear makeup?" When I give her a puzzled look, she grins. "I want to throw that woman off-guard, and she doesn't know me well enough to be surprised by anything I do. It will be subtle, I promise, and it's fun."

"I guess so," I say dubiously, and she dashes off and comes back with a large case. "Let's see. . . Your eyes are definitely the major feature of your face."

"Really," I quip. "I always thought it was the nose."

Tifa laughs. "Stop fretting. I won't do anything too exotic. I want to surprise Vincent, too, not scare him off." I smile, and let her work. She puts a pale, shimmery eyeshadow on right after the foundation, muttering to herself. "Green or blue, do you think?" she asks me.

I think of my bathrobe and smile. "Green, definitely." She shows me a deep forest green, and I nod. "That's it." She puts a medium brown on between the two, and adds some light mascara. "You've got wonderful lashes," she says. "They're so long."

She shows me two colors of blush: a light pink, and a more sandy color. After some thought, I pick the sandy one. "Subtle, right?" I ask, and Tifa laughs.

"You're actually quite good at this," she says.

"I paint, so I'm good with colors," I shrug. "What about my lips?"

"They're already berry-colored, so I think we'll just put a tiny bit of gloss on." She finishes up, and leans back to admire her handiwork. "Well! You ought to do this more often." She hands me a mirror. I stare at myself. I look younger and yet more sophisticated. "Now, I know it's not natural to you, but you are annoyed at him for being gone so long, right?" I nod uncertainly. "Be just a bit standoffish. Not a lot, but enough to let him know he's in trouble."

I grin. "Will that work on Vincent, though? He's a bit more subtle than most."

"He's a man. I think it's hardwired into their systems." Tifa cocks her head at me. "Let your hair down." I comply, and she smiles. "Anything else you can think of?"

"Actually, yes. And it's constructive, too." I direct her to dig out my stereo and some music. "I've been told that my voice is the most incredible thing at least ten people have ever heard. Vincent's never heard me sing."

Tifa grins wickedly. "You're going to be good at this."

Indeed, when Lady Ileana leads the boys back to us, we're both sitting on my bed, singing to some rock music and completely oblivious (maybe) to the door. Vincent stops dead when he hears me with his mouth dropping open. Cloud is less surprised by me and more by Tifa, who has a fantastic voice of her own. With the bandage supporting my back, I'm sitting upright comfortably, and enjoying myself. Ileana gives me a hard stare that I pretend not to notice. She has totally lost her captive audience. "Ladies?" She tries to affect her usual carefree trill, but almost can't pull it off.

Tifa and I turn around, and I stop the music. "Oh, I beg your pardon, Lady Ileana!" I exclaim, ignoring (with difficulty) Vincent's jaw coming completely unhinged at the sight of my face. "You know about my passion for music. How wonderful for me to find another whose voice harmonizes so well with mine! We got so caught up, we didn't notice the time." Both boys wince at that, and Tifa represses a grin. "Did you get everything you needed from my Scouts?"

"Yes, Captain. I believe so." Now that we've got the music off, she's quickly regaining her balance. She knows I can whip her in _that_ area without even trying. "These two charming gentlemen were giving me a tour, and telling me about your recent adventures." Both of us put extra nonchalance into ignoring the boys, who wince again.

"I'm glad they were so kind," I tell Ileana. "We were just going to go over a few more songs. Perhaps you gentlemen could see her out? I, of course, should avoid stairs." Vincent looks positively stricken, and Cloud, not much better.

As soon as they get to the stairs, Tifa shuts the door and bursts into giggles. "That was perfect! She looked like she'd swallowed a snake."

"More to the point, so did Vincent and Cloud," I say. "Didn't Cloud know you could sing?"

"You'd think so, since I always hum while I'm setting the bar up for the night, but apparently not." Tifa shrugs. "Boys can be so totally unaware."

"Well, I'd say this was a successful mission," I declare. "We'll have to do this again. It's entertaining. I wasn't lying when I told Ileana that I was delighted to find a harmonizing voice, though. Please come and sing again."

"I will," Tifa promises. "Can you teach me that look you half-gave Vincent? The smouldery one?"

I laugh. "I can try, but I'm not sure how I did it."

"Till next time, then," she says. "I don't want to embarrass them into apologizing in front of more than just their girls, do you?"

"No. They're not in that much trouble this time."

"Let me know how it goes," she says as she heads for the kitchen.


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

I'm reading my book when Vincent returns, silently. "Um. . ." he starts, then drops into his chair with a thud. "Tera?"

"Hmm?" I don't look up. I hope like hell Tifa's right, though. I don't want to traumatize him.

"Are you, uh, mad at me?"

"I'm the one who said it was all right, Vincent," I point out. "I didn't expect you to be gone so long, but Tifa was here, so I was fine."

He winces. "I'm sorry. Lady Ileana, er. . ." he trails off awkwardly. I look over my book at him, and he flushes. "She has kind of a magnetic personality, doesn't she?"

"I hadn't noticed." He flinches, and comes over to the bed.

"Please put the book down and talk to me." He sits by my legs, but doesn't reach for me. "If you're mad at me, just say so."

I put the book down, and he gets the full benefit of Tifa's experiment. He flushes again. "Why do you keep looking at me like I've grown horns?" I ask.

"I've only known you for a few days. I've never had the opportunity to see you in makeup," he replies dryly. "And you let your hair down. You look very pretty."

"Thank you. Tifa did the makeup. She thought we'd have a bit of a girly moment up here, to keep entertained." I see him wince again, and sigh. "If I was going to yell at you, Vincent, be sure that I would have started by now."

He looks at me. "You're being kind of. . . different."

"I won't make any secret of the fact that Lady Ileana annoys me, but it has more to do with our past than today." That's not even a lie. "She's a good part of the reason Owen and Eilen won't talk civilly." See? Total truth.

"Oh. You could have told me she was that kind of person."

"She doesn't exactly hide it, Vincent. You were rolling your eyes when you were up here with me."

"She got more. . . subtle, I guess."

"She wouldn't be any good at it if she only had one approach." I'm being harsh, but his abandonment really hurt. I'm not trying to hurt him back, but I'm not going to make it easy on him, either. He hasn't mentioned my voice yet. Oh, gods. What if he wasn't enthralled, just startled by my new behavior? I hold that quivery thought inside.

As if reading my thoughts, Vincent says, "We really haven't had a chance to get to know each other properly. How could you know if you're changing me if you don't know me? And vice-versa, of course." It's the "vice-versa" that worries him.

"I don't have the opportunity to be girly that often," I tell him. "I'm in a dirty, nasty job, and what Lady Ileana would consider to be necessities would only get ruined with me." I shrug. "That doesn't mean I don't enjoy being actively female now and again."

"Of course not," he says. "I was just surprised. It reminded me that I don't even know what your favorite color is, for example."

I laugh and point to the bathrobe. "You guessed pretty well. Yours?"

He smiles. "Red, naturally."

"I like dark red, too," I say. "In fact I like a lot of colors, but dark green is my favorite." I give him a sudden, bright smile. "That robe is one of maybe three things I've ever gotten just because someone thought I'd like it, and the other two were Scout stuff." I kiss his forehead. "Thank you."

He smiles, and I see some of the worry leave his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tera," he says. "If she hadn't snagged Cloud, too, you would have been up here all by yourself. I told you I'd look after you."

I shake my head. "You're such a refreshing change over any of my Scouts," I tease. "I have to maneuver them into a corner to make them apologize for anything. With you, all I have to do, apparently, is thank you for something else entirely."

He laughs. "You're really not mad?"

"Not really, and more at her than at you. I made it clear that you were with me, and she went after you anyway." I narrow my eyes. "She's very successful and influential and really very clever, but she needs to learn to control her raging hormones, because she'll eventually do more than annoy me."

He laughs. "With both of you in the same room, I couldn't figure out why I'd been following her around." I look at him in surprise, then touch the eyeshadow. "No, love; it's not the makeup. You have such an alive personality. Tifa used the makeup to highlight your already radiant features."

I finger my nose and chuckle, "First time this as ever been called radiant."

"I'm being serious, wench," Vincent scolds, pulling my hand away and kissing me. "You are so vibrant, Tera. I looked at you, even on that first night, and realized how much I was missing out by not living every day to the fullest." He kisses me again. "Ileana is no more than a pretty doll next to you." I blush, and he laughs. "I take it I'm forgiven?"

"Oh, hush." When he retaliates by staring at me with his golden eyes glowing warmly, I throw my hands up. "How am I supposed to stay annoyed at you when you're so gorgeous? It's not fair."

He blinks. "Am I?" He seems genuinely puzzled.

"D'you really think legions of women and girls are following you just because you're mysterious?" I retort. After seeing his confusion, I say, "Great good gods, you haven't noticed? Vincent, Ileana was salivating at you** before** she knew who you were."

"Well, but maybe that was because I was with you."

I tease, "Are you questioning my taste, then?" He cocks his head at me. "Vincent, you set the blood pounding in any warm-blooded female, whether or not she has any idea who you are."

"Fat chance she wouldn't," he points out. "Besides, Cloud attracts much more attention than I do."

"You have entirely different features," I say patiently. "Some of the people after him are the same as some of the ones after you." When he stares at me blankly, I sigh. Opening the door, I call for Tifa, who trots up the stairs almost at once.

"What do you need?" Cloud is a bit behind her.

"Sorry, Cloud, but you probably won't like this discussion. Tifa can tell you about it later, if she wants. It'll only take a second."

She comes into my room. "I'm having self-esteem problems with Vincent," I tell her. "So, just between the three of us, what do you think of Vincent, physically?"

Vincent says, "You planned this, right?"

"Um, no, Vincent," Tifa says, startled by both my question and his accusation. "If it was anyone other than Tera asking, I'd tell them to go shove it."

I grin at her. "I'm just that charming."

"And I know you won't tell anyone," she adds, blushing beet red.

"Well? If this doesn't work, I'm going to have to steal an innocent bystander off the street, maybe a couple of them," I say, and I'm not entirely kidding.

Tifa looks at Vincent, who blushes. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he says, misinterpreting the speculative look she's giving him entirely, unless I've lost my edge. "Tera's just. . ." he trails off when she and I share a wicked grin.

"He probably won't believe me, either," she tells me.

"No, but it'll help," I point out. "And I really will grab random passersby, if I must."

"Whoa, wait," Vincent says. "You're not saying. . ."

Tifa laughs. "Yes, Vincent. I am saying that you are unbelievably attractive. I might even go so far as to say absolutely gorgeous."

"Really?" he croaks.

I smile at him. "See? It's not just me." I cock my head at him. "Would you like us to go out and try to find random girls of varying ages to ask? I can even send the Scouts. We've done missions like this before."

"Asking if someone is hot by consensus?" Tifa asks. "Maybe being a Scout is more fun than I thought."

I roll my eyes. "No, twit. Surveys for general information. All we'd have to do is surround it with related but innocuous questions and send a couple of cute Scout guys out with clipboards." Vincent blushes. "I can, if you'd like," I tell him. "It would be an excellent learning experience for some of the raw recruits."

"Really?" Tifa asks.

"Oh, yes. You'd be surprised how much information you can get by asking." I wink at Vincent. "I can even make it work for Reeve's cause, if you'd like." He gapes at me.

"If you could get a general idea of what people think of us and the services we were going to try, you could tell us what to start and where to put it," Tifa says, eyes shining. "That would just rock Reeve's world, Tera!"

"I already rock Reeve's world, Tifa," I say with a laugh.

"You rock mine, too," Vincent says softly.

I lean over and kiss him. "Thank you, love. That's always nice to hear." I ponder for a second, then smile. "I've been looking for something to start the greenies on."

"Finding out if the female population of the city thinks I'm attractive?" Vincent yelps.

"Oh, we'll have to broaden the spectrum considerably more than that," I reply absently. "I want them to be able to analyze data from multiple sources that evoke separate kinds of reactions."

"So we can take out that question?" Vincent asks, hopefully.

"No. The way people feel about leaders often meshes with their physical impressions of those leaders." I cut Tifa off mid-giggle when I add, "You're going to be the female for the male half of the questionnaire. She stares at me, and I sigh at both of them. "It will be anonymous, to keep the statistical data pure, so you don't have to worry about specific people finding you and bringing it up."

"What about your Scouts?" Tifa protests. "They gossip like washerwomen; you said it yourself!"

I frown. "Not about missions, they don't. That's Scout law." I roll my eyes. "It's not like I'm going to ask them flat-out if they think you're hot. In fact, it'll benefit more if both of you are on both." I have more in mind, but don't want to share it yet.

Reeve pokes his head in through the door. "Dinner's ready." He sees the sulky looks on the others' faces, and asks, "What's wrong?"

"I've got an idea to help you with your cause. They don't like some of the specific applications," I reply. "Hey, Reeve, would you mind if I asked some random people what their physical impression of you was?"

"No. Why would I?" Hearing the surprised exclamation from Tifa, he grins. "Politicians, and Scouts, I suppose, know that anything, even the set of their eyes, can affect a person's initial opinion of them."

As we go to dinner, I grab Vincent's arm lightly. "Are you okay, love? I didn't mean to embarrass you."

He smiles. "I'm fine. I think Cloud might kill you, though."

I snicker. "Wait until he finds out he'll be in it, too." When he raises his eyebrows at me, I add, "I was planning on this when I decided to use it to help Reeve. I just told Tifa what I did so she'd stop giggling at you. It makes much more sense for all of you to be in there."

"You might have trouble getting permission for that," he says. "Cloud can be a bit. . ." he trails off, searching for the right word.

"Snarky?" I supply with a chuckle. "Oh, I know. That's why I'm going to let Reeve do it. He's better at talking people into things, anyway."

Reeve, overhearing, snorts. "Not really. You could talk Rufus into buying his own shirt from you, if you wanted to."

"Yes, but you know these people better."

"True enough," he concedes.

When we reach the dining area, my two scapegrace lieutenants sit as close as they can to me without displacing Vincent. "Good," I say. "You're acting human again. I've got an idea of how to break in the new recruits and help Reeve at the same time." When they look at me questioningly, I say, "We'll do a statistical survey."

Owen says, "Good ol' statistics. I actually enjoy watching greenies find out how much people will brag to a man with a clipboard. Are we getting paid for this?" He winks at Reeve to let him know he's kidding.

Reeve scoffs. "How about you consider this your payment for the roughly ten tons of food I've given you?" Everyone laughs, and he continues. "Tera was telling me about this, and I wanted to ask you all myself about a certain part of it." Nice of him to take the responsibility. "Statistical inquiries can tell us a lot about how much progress we're making with my plans to rebuild the city. Part of that, of course is knowing what they think of us, in general. Here comes the part I volunteered to ask about: Almost all of first impressions are based mostly on physicalities. All of you are involved in this project, in one way or another. If it's all right, I would like the Scouts to gather data on all of you as well as myself."

Tifa asks, "Tera, will you ask them about yourself?"

"Yeah. I'm involved, aren't I?" I grin at her. "Trust me; I'm not going to make my friends do anything I wouldn't." I consider for a minute, then say to Demi and Owen, "I'll have to go with the greenies, won't I?"

"Unless you want to undo the changes you just made to our positions, yes," says Owen. "Since I doubt you do, you're the only one who's qualified to take them out."

"Well, bugger. It'll have to wait at least one more day, then. My back isn't up to it yet." I cock my head at the snickers from some of my Scouts. "If anyone else wants to threaten Vincent or me, please do it before too much longer, because I plan to have an early night."

Barret laughs. "I don't have to threaten either of ya," he says. "You're both old enough to look after yourselves. Jes' be careful and take care of each other." He grins at me. "And you can ask your questions about me, if ya want."

"Same here," Cid seconds. "I'm curious myself, to know what people think of me."

When I see how surprised Tifa and Vincent look, I chuckle. "It's mostly a context thing."

Vincent laughs. "True enough. I agree to it, as long as you use diplomatic phrasing." I grin at the faint pink spots that come into his cheeks.

"No worries," I reply. "I wouldn't get answers if I asked it the way you're thinking, anyway." He laughs again. "Right. Anyone else?"

Reeve and Nanaki both agree, but Yuffie just glares at me. "I'm not going to threaten you," she says, "because you won't last long enough for it to matter." I think to myself that I'll put her in anyway, for my own personal amusement. It's not like she's disagreed.

"Tifa? Cloud?" Reeve asks. "You're the only two who haven't responded, and I'm sure Tera would like to get started."

Tifa looks at me for a long minute, then nods. "I'll do it. I trust you, Tera."

Cloud blinks at her, then realizes he's the only one left. "Okay, fine. But you have to show it to us before you go out."

I snort. "Of course I will. You're my **friends**, Cloud. I like you guys enough to try to avoid offending you. Why do you think we asked for permission?"

After dinner, Vincent and I settle down with our books again, though this would surprise my dirty-minded Scouts. He's in his chair, deeply into his book when Nanaki walks silently in. "I would like to volunteer my services while you are injured," he tells me. "Vincent must sleep sometime, and you could use someone to prowl the halls."

"Thank you," I reply before Vincent can protest. "I've been worrying about what to do about him. Damien and my other Scouts need this rest as much as I do."

As Nanaki bows and leaves, Vincent gives me a hurt look. "I'll be fine," he tells me. "I don't need to sleep that much."

"Vincent, you fell asleep in that chair this morning," I remind him. I realize that he doesn't want to leave, and grin. "If you can behave yourself, you can sleep here. It's not like I haven't heard anything they're going to tell us millions of times before."

"Really?" His eyes clear. "I don't want to be too far away from you while Yuffie still has that look in her eye."

"I know. Now get ready for bed. I wasn't kidding when I said I want an early night. If I have to be stuck here, I'm going to get some extra sleep out of it!" He chuckles, and goes across the hall to change. I gingerly slip out of my pants and into some pajamas.

When Vincent gets back, he's pretty much dressed the same as he was, just in looser, more comfortable pants and no overshirt. He looks at me, and smiles. "As long as you don't wear a silk negligee, I will try to control any primal urges that come up in the middle of the night."

"Don't give me any ideas," I tease. I've just wiped my face clean, and re-bound my hair. "What if you walk off with her Ladyship again?"

"I won't. Tera, I didn't tell you this before, but. . ." He swallows. "When you were singing, earlier, I couldn't have moved if Lady Ileana had tried to drag me. Your voice is unearthly, and I've heard sirens. Your voice is more beautiful than any siren, or succubus, or anything I've ever heard before. If that's what you're going to do when I annoy you, I swear I'll annoy you every other day."

I let out a low laugh. He _had_ noticed. "I'll sing for you whenever you want, Vincent. You don't have to annoy me. In fact, it's even better when I'm not annoyed." I lean forward and kiss him, pulling him closer. "If you keep telling me things like that," I whisper, "I definitely won't be able to hold on to my self-control."

He chuckles and picks me up and sets me on the bed. "I'll keep that in mind." He tucks me in, then settles in next to me. Even with as much as he's relaxed in the last few days, the word "snuggle" doesn't even remotely apply. He tucks his gauntleted arm gently around me. "Good night, kitten."

"Good night, Vincent."


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

I wake up tightly wrapped in Vincent's arms, and he's still asleep. I savor the feeling for a second, then carefully turn over. To my surprise, he doesn't wake up. I watch him sleep for a long minute, enjoying seeing him so peaceful. I won't tell him, but I can't believe this is real, either. Even seeing him here makes me half-expect this to be a dream. He opens his golden eyes and smiles at me. "How long have you been awake?"

"Only a little while. I rolled over, and you didn't stir. You're a lighter sleeper than that, surely."

"Not when I feel secure," he replies, and kisses me. "I'm safer here with you than I have ever been." I blush, and he laughs. "I'm glad to see I can fluster you, too."

I smile at him. "Easily."

We enjoy a leisurely morning. Reeve himself brings up our breakfasts, and gives me a list of ideas from my Scouts and our friends of what to ask in the survey. "I'm glad to see you both so happy," he says. "Don't let anyone talk you out of this."

"When do I let anyone talk me out of anything?" Vincent asks. "Tera's probably going to be the first person ever to successfully do it, and then only if she's right."

"Hmph," I reply. "I'm always right." Both Reeve and Vincent laugh at my tone of voice, which is cheerful and self-mocking at the same time. "Okay, not _always_. But who's counting?"

Vincent nuzzles me. "I won't promise never to argue with you, but I will promise that I will always listen to you, even if Lady Ileana felt the need to strip right in front of me."

"Don't give her any ideas," I laugh. "She's capable of annoying me all by herself." Vincent kisses me, and Reeve chuckles as he closes the door.

Some time later, I'm actually working on the survey when Owen comes by. "How goes it?" he asks, looking over my shoulder.

"Not bad at all," I reply. "Thank you for your contributions. Your phrasing on that healing question is much better than any I thought of." I smile up at him from my pillows. "And if you're coming to see if I've been out of bed yet, the answer is no. If I shift my position, Vincent is on me like a cat. I ate all of my breakfast, and I've been putting heat on my back every half hour since nine this morning." I grin at the stunned look on his face. "Have I been a good girl?"

"Yep," Owen replies. "That doesn't get you out of taking the newbies out on the survey run, though."

"I'll actually enjoy it," I reply. "I like relaxing jobs." I sigh, then turn to Vincent. "However, Shadowcat does not inspire confidence in most people. I shall have to leave her with you and Cid. My knives ought to be sufficient to guard me. It's not like we'll be going to the dangerous parts of the city yet."

Vincent nods, slowly. "I'd feel better if you had her, but you're right. I won't jeopardize your mission by insisting you take anything more than what you feel necessary."

I smile at him, and say to Owen, "See? I do know how to look after myself, and you don't have to second-guess my safety decisions. With all the buildings and rubble around, I'll always be in throwing range, anyway." Owen, who has opened his mouth, probably to disagree with Vincent, closes it again with a sigh. "He's not just saying it to stay on my good side, Owen. Vincent already promised me that if he disagreed with me, we'd have a flaming row about it, and I'd have to convince him properly."

"If you say so, Captain," my second says. "When were you planning on doing this?"

"Tomorrow, probably. My back feels 200 better than it did yesterday, and it'll feel mostly normal tomorrow. A brief jaunt through the quiet part of town will be easy." I chuckle at his surprise. "I'm not crazy enough to go now, Owen; don't worry about that."

Awhile after Owen leaves, Cloud comes in. Vincent looks at him and says, "You look like you've just jumped off a ledge, and are not sure you'll land safely. What's up?"

"When we decided on this diabolical plan to teach your Scouts how not ready they are, Tera, we decided to talk to Reeve and Tseng. Since you got hurt, I thought I'd go talk to Tseng for you." He steps aside, and my childhood friend walks in through the door. "He insisted on coming and talking to you himself."

I laugh, and stand up carefully to hug Tseng. "You would insist on coming to a former enemy's place. Didn't you think about how uncomfortable that would make them?"

Tseng only looks me over. "I don't care," he says quietly. "I wanted to make sure with my own eyes that you're all right." I stare at him; this bluntness is entirely unlike him. "I also heard some things. . ." He trails off and gives Vincent a hard, cold stare. "I thought I'd come check it out."

"How _does_ Owen get news to all you people so fast?" I grumble. "Next thing I know, my brother will be here."

"He might," Tseng agrees. "He was nearby, last I heard. He stops to visit almost as often as you do." He keeps staring at Vincent.

"Oh, stop that. You'll just give yourself a headache, both of you," I scold. Vincent is staring right back. "Go off and talk like civilized human beings, although you really don't have to say any of it behind my back. I've a fair guess how the conversation will go." When they don't let up, I turn to Cloud. "Go with them and make sure they don't kill each other, would you?"

Cloud laughs. "I'd be delighted. Come on, boys. Tera has a survey to work on." They follow him out of the room, trying not to take their eyes off each other.

"Men!" I exclaim to myself, and go back to work. It takes me another half hour to finish the survey, and Vincent still hasn't returned. "What is it now?" I ask myself. "Did Ileana 'forget' something?" I pull myself carefully to my feet, and assess my condition. "Well, I'd better start walking now, or I won't tomorrow."

As I make my cautious way down the stairs, survey in hand, I see Reeve coming toward me. "Tera? Why are you out of bed?"

"I'm fine to walk slowly, Reeve," I reassure him. "Here, look at this. How does it look to you?" I hand him the survey, and he reads it carefully. "Well? Did I cover everything?"

"I think so, yes." He hands it back, then gives me a stern look. "You didn't really answer my question. _Why_ are you out of bed?"

"Vincent and Tseng went to have words, and I sent Cloud with them, but it's been more than 45 minutes, and I'm not sure what's happening. Do you know anything?"

He shakes his head. "They didn't come this way. You can ask Tifa; she's in the dining room."

I wobble carefully over to the dining room. Tifa looks up as I walk in. Before she can launch into a lecture, I raise my hand. "It's not going to get better if I just lay on it. As long as I take it slow, I'll be fine. Have you seen either of our boys or Tseng? I thought Tseng was just going to give Vincent a tougher version of the Big Brother talk, but that was almost an hour ago. Cloud went with them to keep them civil, but what if he took Vincent's side and they're _all_ fighting?" More than my footsteps are wobbly. Tseng has been my friend for 25 years; he doesn't deserve to get beat up for looking after me.

Tifa hears the shaking in my voice and says, "I _don't_ know where they are, but you and I are going to find them. This is the second time in as many days Vincent has left you alone." She comes over to support me for a second, until I regain my balance, and then we set off.

Nanaki is in the entryway, napping. He wakes up when Tifa and I approach. "Hello. What can I do for you? If it involves leaving, Tera, I am afraid Owen has told me quite firmly that you must stay here."

Tifa says, "We were just looking for Cloud and Vincent. Have you seen them?"

"They did not come this way. I thought I heard raised voices near the west wing a little while ago. I would check there." He seems upset for some reason.

"Thank you, Nanaki," I say, bowing slightly.

As soon as I spot a couch, shortly after heading for our new destination, I aim right for it and collapse for a minute. "Are you okay?" Tifa asks. "Maybe we should get you back to bed."

"I'll be fine. It's just the first time I've had any exercise since I strained my back, and my poor feet hurt." She laughs, and I grin wryly. "Fine Scout I am. Can't find who I'm looking for, and I've gotten foot-sore for the first time in I don't know how long. A survey mission is where I belong."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You were tired even before you got hurt."

Demi walks in, and double-takes at the sight of me lounging down here. "Captain? Are you all right?"

"Mostly," I reply. "Have you seen Vincent or Cloud, or even Tseng?"

"Yeah. They're up on the second floor. Vincent and Tseng were shouting at each other, last I looked." Demi forestalls my next question. "That was only a couple of minutes ago, and they'd have to come through here to get back to the core."

"Thank you," I grunt, as I stand back up. "What is Cloud doing?"

"Shouting at both of them, I think." Demi grins. "He's certainly _trying_ to help you, Captain."

"Good. I don't have the energy to shout, so he and Tifa can do it for me." We make our way upstairs, Demi in close attendance. I can hear the boys now. I can't make out what they're saying, but then again, I probably don't want to.

Tifa helps me rest against a wall, near the room they're in. "They would come way the hell out here, wouldn't they?" she comments. "Here. Get your strength back so you can give them a right royal thundering when we walk in."

I snort. "I wouldn't put it past them to drop their differences and force me back to bed immediately, but we can give it a try."

Indeed, all three men are struck temporarily dumb when I stagger in, leaning on Tifa. Cloud gets his voice back first. "I wondered when you'd come looking for us," he says, with a half-smile. "How are you doing?"

I smile back at him. "A bit stiff, but otherwise all right. Thank you for at least _trying_ to do what I sent you with these two for." I glare at both of the other men, controlling my quivering knees with iron willpower. Vincent has another black eye, and it looks like he's broken Tseng's nose. "Fighting like 5-year-olds, are we? Do you have any idea how long you've been up here?"

Vincent looks startled, angry, then stricken. Tifa says, coolly, "Near as we can tell, you left Tera's room about an hour and a half ago." She glares at them. "She got worried enough to get out of bed to find you. I'm glad neither one of you seems to be seriously hurt, but by the gods, I'm half-tempted to change that." She knows that I'm more than a bit stiff, and concentrating on talking and staying standing at the same time is a bit difficult.

When Tseng looks about to say something, probably to justify his actions, Demi snaps, "You will not speak until asked to answer a direct question! You're in more than enough trouble without digging yourselves deeper with hollow excuses!" Tseng closes his mouth, looking stupefied.

Tifa sighs. "You're up here telling Vincent not to hurt Tera, and she's been waiting down below, fretting herself into a froth wondering what's happened to you." Vincent flinches, and actually comes over with a chair.

"Yell at me all you want," he whispers. "Just sit. I can tell you ache." Surprising the others, I obey calmly. "Thank you." He goes back to stand where he was.

Cloud chuckles. "Sensible of you," he says to me. "I was beginning to fear I'd have to catch you when you toppled, just to keep these two from fighting over which one of them would." I give him a wry smile back. "I've been shouting over both of them until I'm hoarse, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good." He gives Tifa a warm look. "She certainly has a way with words."

I laugh, making my back hurt, but I don't care. "I do, too, when I try." I point to Tseng first. "What did you say to Vincent that made him do **that**?" and I point to his nose. "Don't give me any bullshit about him starting it, either. You goaded him deliberately, hoping to upset me when I saw that he'd hit you."

He gives me a sullen look for a long time, then says, "Will you believe anything I tell you if he contradicts it?"

I don't bother to hide the hurt that causes. "Yes. But we both know that if he really wanted to hurt you, he'd have you a foot off the ground by your throat before Cloud could blink, much less stop him." Vincent does blink. "Don't insult me by acting like you didn't do it on purpose. You're damn lucky he's right-handed, or more than your nose would be broken." I glare at him "What did you say? I'm giving you a chance to tell me in your words before I ask Vincent or Cloud." Vincent's eyes are flashing between ruby and bright gold, but I ignore him for the moment.

"I. . .mentioned Lucrecia." Vincent flinches. "Okay, 'mentioned' is the wrong word."

"He said that Vincent had made a mistake before, going after someone else's woman, and it had almost gotten him killed." Cloud's voice is flat. "And if Vincent hadn't hit him, I would have."

"Thank you, Cloud. I would expect no less," I reply, sadness welling up in me. I squash it, letting my anger take precedence. "Oh, Tseng," I sigh. "You know I would have ended up strangling you. You're too self-righteous about the strangest things, and you might as well have a leash in Rufus Shinra's hands. Aside from all that, you wanted to keep me in a bubble, and as I'm rather well proving at the moment, I can't be contained."

I'm about to say more, but a sharp pain shoots through my back. I cry out, and reach out for someone. Both of Vincent's hands close gently on my shoulders. "You're going back to bed," he says. "You can yell at us there." He picks me up carefully and heads for the door.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author Note: I just realized, reviewing this myself, that I TOTALLY forgot: SEX AHOY! If you do not want to read sexings, SKIP THIS CHAPTER.**

**13**

Vincent sets me down in bed, and tucks me in gently, with a hot pack for my back. I manage not to moan as I land, but as a whimper comes out. Vincent flinches. "I'll be fine, Vincent," I say, touching his hand. "It actually feels better than it has, because it's just sore from exercise."

Tifa nods, and both Tseng and Vincent relax. She immediately turns to Tseng. "I'll ask the question Tera was about to: _Why_ did you say **that** to Vincent? I understand that you still feel for Tera, but making him that mad could have been suicidal." That actually is what my next question would have been. Tseng, as far as I know, is not completely insane.

He looks at the floor, still sullen. I lose all patience. "Tseng, answer the gods-damned question before I send Demi to get Eilen, and _he_ can ask it."

Tseng flinches. "He said something to make me angry." I know that that's probably the best we'll get from him at the moment, and I quirk an eyebrow at Vincent, who flushes.

"I just told him that he was never going to get you back," he says. "He hit me, and I told him he didn't deserve to."

"At the moment," Cloud opines, "neither of you do." He shakes his head. "He also said that _we_ actually managed to kill Hojo, and I almost hit him."

"Was that before or after Tseng hit you?" I ask sternly.

Vincent says, "After, I think." We both look at Cloud, who nods. "I wasn't really thinking straight."

"I can see that," Tifa and I say in unison, then exchange exasperated looks. I wave my hand at her to continue.

"So, let me get this straight: While Tera was down here worrying about both of you, and later actually trying to find you, and panicking when she couldn't, you were saying the absolute nastiest things you could think of to each other? Is that about right?" Both men wince at her phrasing. "I've never seen such a pair of bloody idiots!" she explodes. "Tera needs **both** of you! This is not a fucking competition, Tseng! Vincent is not taking her from out of your grasp. Vincent, if she really wanted him, she would have **stayed** with him, and you might have never met, and you wouldn't know it! I'm not healing either of you. If _your_ nose heals crooked, or if _you_ suffer permanent sight damage, it will remind you to stop thinking with your testosterone!" She turns to me, and her eyes are a deep, flaming garnet red. "Do you have anything specific in mind that you wanted to do to these two, or can I?"

I sigh. "I'm so pissed off right now, I'm not sure I wouldn't tell them both to go jump off the roof. Be my guest."

She turns back to the miscreants. "Vincent, go to your room. _I_ will take care of Tera. _You_ are not going to see her until later, maybe tonight, if I feel generous." When he waits to see what's about to happen to Tseng, she points. "**NOW.**" He leaves, looking at me once, then hurrying off. I think I catch a glimpse of moisture in his eyes. "Cloud, please go with him," Tifa adds. "I don't want him to do anything any more stupid than he has already." She turns to Tseng, mouth set in a thin line. "You are not allowed near this building or where we eventually move to unless Tera specifically tells you to come here, and not for a month, at least. If you have important news, send it with Rude. Also, you will tell Rude, truthfully, exactly why this is. I'm sending Nanaki with you, to enforce this. I have no doubt he heard most of it quite clearly." I nod. There had been unease behind Nanaki's tone when he had told us where to find the boys. Tseng flinches, and opens his mouth. "Go wait by the front door until I come down." He doesn't have to be told twice; he's been laid out by her before.

After he's down the stairs, Tifa turns to me and doesn't seem at all surprised to see that I'm sobbing. I'm trying to stop, because it's killing my back, but the last week just crashes down on me. "Am I cursed or something?" I ask. "I haven't had a single day in the last three weeks without a catastrophe. I can't take much more of this, Tifa."

"I know. That's why I sent everyone away. You cry yourself out while I go tell Nanaki what's going on." She hugs me carefully, then leaves. I let myself go. She's right. As much as it'll hurt my back, holding it back will hurt worse. I hear Cloud yelling at Vincent, and the tears abate somewhat. Despite all my problems, I have new friends who quite obviously will do as much as my Scouts will to help me.

Demi sidles in through the door. She had vanished on our way back. "I told the lads what happened, and Tifa just told us what she did to those idiots. That's good; you need some alone time right now." She grins. "Well, without-boy time I ought to say; Tifa and I are going to look after you. Owen promised not to hit anybody without being prompted, by the way. He knows you don't need that."

"I dunno," I reply darkly. "Hitting people would make me feel better, I think." Demi laughs.

"That's my Captain. I told him that, but also that you'd probably prefer to do the hitting yourself. I can't promise Rude isn't going to dangle Tseng out a window, and the gods alone know how Tiarnan is going to react to all this, but Owen and the rest of the Scouts are taken care of." Her mouth tightens. "Yuffie was laughing, though, and Tarria decked her, but I can't see how that's a bad thing." I actually laugh at that.

"It'll give her more reason to hate me, I guess, but what can I do about that? One thousand one plus two is still just a thousand and a bit." I look across the hall. "Is Vincent going to be all right?"

"Probably. Cloud's telling him that you'd be much worse off if he did anything to himself, and I think he actually believes it." Demi smiles. "But you're not allowed to worry about him. That's Cloud's job. Your job is to listen to the most outrageously bad jokes I can think up and try to fake a laugh for my sake." When I just shake my head at her, she grins. "I know plenty of them, trust me. After leading eight guys for five years, I know the raunchiest, most tasteless jokes on the planet."

"I believe it," I reply, actually smiling. "Just stay here and keep telling me that none of this is my fault, and I'm not cursed," I say. "That's all I need."

When Tifa comes back, Demi and I are going over the survey. "Can I see?" she asks, not bringing up Tseng or Vincent or anything that may upset me.

"Sure. I promised I'd show all of you." She looks it over, and I watch her anxiously. "Is the phrasing okay?"

"Yeah, it's good," she replies, handing it back. "I'm not even blushing, see?" I grin at that.

"Cloud wanted to see it, too," I say. "Can you show it to him?" Unspoken is my need to know if Vincent is really all right.

"Sure. Be right back." She trots across the hall, and Demi holds up my stereo.

"What kind of music would you like? Anything but emo."

I chuckle. "I'm not _that_ bad off. How about some classical? It'll be soothing." She puts on one of my favorite soundtracks, and, without thinking, when my favorite vocal part comes on, I sing softly. Not softly enough, apparently, because I hear Vincent's voice for a second. I flinch at the misery in it, and Demi swears.

"Damn damn damn!" She glares at the door, then asks, "Do you have _anything_ that won't remind you of him?"

I sigh. "Scouting, maybe. Which I can't do right now. We don't even have reports for me to go over yet." I smile weakly at my lieutenant. "Reports are boring enough to drive _any_ thought from anyone's head."

Demi laughs. "Gee, thanks."

"It's usually multiple variations on the theme of 'All's well, mission complete," I reply wryly. "Even if you all changed vocabularies and added adjectives and pretty, colored pictures it would be boring."

Tifa comes back. Seeing the strain on my face, she touches my shoulder. "He's all right. He's just feeling very, very guilty right now, as he ought to be." I look into her eyes, which have gone back to dark brown, and nod. "You should be angrier," Tifa comments. "It's not exactly like he's blameless."

I sigh, "I know that, but this relationship just started. I haven't had a normal day in three weeks, and I thought this morning that things were going to start leveling out. If I had known Tseng still felt that strongly, I wouldn't have let them leave my sight."

"You can't do everything, Tera," Tifa scolds. "I talked to Nanaki, and he says Yuffie caught Tseng right inside the door, and said something to him. He didn't catch what, but I mean to find out. It doesn't excuse either of them, but it looks like Vincent was right when he said she wasn't done yet." She glares at me. "But you couldn't have known that, just like Owen couldn't have known that she already hated you the other night. We're only human, and, honestly, Tseng should know better than to listen to her anyway."

"Not if she's saying what he privately believes," I point out. The fact that Yuffie is involved doesn't surprise me.

"See?" Demi says. "You're not cursed; Yuffie just can't let this go. The last three catastrophes have had her right in the thick of things."

Tifa sighs. "I should have told you to begin with, but I didn't know she was that obsessed. Yuffie has always had a crush on Vincent. He doesn't return her feelings, and he's made that clear multiple times, but she's young."

I shake my head. "She would have been the perfect person to push Tseng over the edge, then. She knows exactly how he feels, or she says she does."

After a fruitless hour of the girls trying to take my mind off things, Reeve comes up with my dinner. "You missed lunch," he says. "Under the circumstances I'm not going to scold you. Just eat all of that, please."

I tug his sleeve as he turns to bring Vincent's to him. "Don't be too hard on him," I say, soft enough that Tifa can't hear. "He's already about as low as he can get."

Reeve nods. "All right, but only because you asked me," he says. "He really does know better, or should." I watch as he taps on Vincent's door. Cloud answers it and takes the tray. He tries to close the door quickly, but I see Vincent sitting on his bed, and I can tell he's been crying.

Tifa drags me back to the bed. "Don't," she says. "Cloud has it under control, and Vincent's still being punished."

"Am I?" I ask. "This is just as hard on me as it is him."

"I know, and I'm sorry," she replies. "But he needs to get the rest of that bad feeling out before he comes anywhere near you again." She touches my arm. "It would destroy you both if something happened because of that."

Demi adds, gently, "We don't want him thinking of _her_ when he's with you, not when you're this fragile. And you are, Tera. If one more thing happens, it will break you."

Tifa adds, "And that would break him."

I lie down on my bed, thinking about this morning's peace, and holding that memory inside me gently, afraid I'll scare it off if I concentrate on it too hard. After a long silence, Tifa and Demi start talking about entirely unrelated things, like my survey, and what being a female Scout is like. I sit up and eat my dinner, knowing I can't have Reeve on my conscience as well. It's fantastic food, and lots of it. Before I realize it, I'm done.

Tifa comes over. "We've decided that it would still be best for you to go out tomorrow. I'm going to try healing magic on your back, and see if I can't stabilize it." She concentrates, and I feel a pleasant warmth on my spine. She finishes, and I can barely tell it's still hurt. "How's that?"

"Much better. If you do it again before we leave, it ought to be good for the whole morning, at least." I smile at her. "Thank you for helping me with everything. I'm not mad at you for doing this; I just wish I could help him."

She smiles back. "I know. He ought to be done soon; I told him he could come back before bed." She goes back over to Vincent's room, and hauls Cloud out for a quick conference. Demi's still here, or I would dash across the hall to hold Vincent close.

She grins, guessing what I'm thinking. "Sorry, boss, but I don't want Tifa mad at me."

"Can't you look the other way or something?" I half-tease.

"Nope. I'm a Scout. She wouldn't believe it wasn't on purpose."

"Bugger." Tifa walks back to us, and smiles when she sees me poised at the door.

"Go back in and lie down. Cloud's going to help Vincent clean himself up, and they'll be right over."

Nanaki comes upstairs as I am waiting impatiently, still at the door. "Tera, I meant to come sooner. I apologize for not stopping this threat as soon as I saw it. I should have detained Tseng, and warned you right away." His ears are drooping, and he sounds shamed. "If you want someone else to watch your back, I do not blame you."

"It's not your fault, Nanaki," I say. "Even without her interference, Tseng might have still brought this on. He's got a bad temper, and he's easily goaded." I bow to him. "I would be honored if you continued to stand guard over me."

"Thank you." The cat-like creature trots off down the hallway, but I'm not watching. Vincent is at the door of his room, hesitating.

"Get over here." I try to make it a command, but my voice breaks. His eyes are blotchy, and he looks a total mess. "Come _here_, before I drag you by your hair." I do a bit better that time.

When he still hesitates, Cloud pushes him forward. "Get over there, idiot," the blonde says. "Can't you see she needs to touch you?"

With that, I'm in his arms, and I'm crying into his shoulder. "Hush," he says. "You're already tired." He puts me in bed, and is about to sit in his chair, but Demi plops into it and glares at him.

"Get in bed, Vincent," she says, her voice surprisingly gentle. "You need the rest, too."

He reaches out for me as he lays down. "I keep upsetting you, kitten," he whispers. "Why do you still want me?"

"I think it's gone beyond wanting," I tell him. "It's not like you're doing it on purpose. You were just trying to take care of me." I eye both the girls. "I think we'll be fine," I say. "Outside, please." They look at each other and shrug. Tifa goes with Cloud, and Demi just leaves.

Vincent stares at me. I can tell the black eye is worse than the one Owen gave him, but it won't actually impair his sight for more than a few days. "I'm so sorry, Tera," he tells me, kissing me tentatively. When I pull him closer to kiss him harder, he only struggles for a second. "I shouldn't have lost my temper, and when he hit me, I should have just turned around and left. But-" He cuts himself off, awkwardly.

"What did he say about me?" I ask, quietly. When he looks at me in shock, I laugh. "We talked about Lucrecia yesterday, Vincent, for more than an hour, and you were all right. It takes a hell of a lot for you to lose your temper, unless it's about me, I've noticed. What did he say?"

"He said you were just using me to get over him, and that wasn't necessary, and that you would just drop me when he asked for you back. He said that you knew you could do that to me because. . ." his eyes glow. "Because of her."

"Hmm," I say, stroking his hair. "Thank you for defending my honor, love." He stares at me, and I smile at him. "You don't think I thought for a second you believed him?"

He smiles back, slowly. "I guess not. Cloud knows, but he said he wouldn't tell Tifa."

I snort. "That's noble of you, considering the first thing she'd do is gut Tseng."

"I know. But he's still your childhood friend, and he's a decent human being when he's not like this." He shakes his head. "_Why_ was he like this?"

My eyes darken as I tell him about Yuffie. "Speaking of gutting, I think she makes my list," I finish. Then I look at him. "You do know she's infatuated with you, right?"

"Yeah. I thought if I ignored her, she'd figure it out, and she didn't, so then I flat-out told her, and she said I was in denial."

"Enough of this," I tell Vincent. "I know we were going to take it slow, but I've had a long week, and who knows what's going to happen tomorrow?" I reach for his shirt, and pull it off. "Time to speed things up," I say, biting lightly at his nipples. He gasps.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asks, but his heart's not in it, and he's already reaching for me, pulling my shirt off and muttering to himself when he sees me wearing a bra.

"Probably not." I gasp as he gets the thing off and nips my sensitive nipples. "But who cares?" Words are lost as we explore each others' bodies, gasping and moaning at each new sensation. He's naked before I am, as I throw his pants on the floor and reach for his penis.

"It's been so long," he moans. "How do we know I can still. . ." He trails off as my mouth closes on his hardening cock. "Oh, Tera," he gasps.

I run my tongue over it, savoring the taste and thoroughly enjoying the noises Vincent's making. "Oh, I think you can still do anything you want to," I chuckle deep in my throat, then gasp as he suddenly pulls me up. I'm now the one who moans, as he trails his fingers down. My body is tingling, then it pulses as he finds my clitoris with his fingertips. Without warning, he pulls me to him, and slowly pushes himself inside me. I cry out, not caring who's there to hear it.

He starts thrusting, slowly, but all the way in and out. He's watching my face, and when my eyes clear from the shock of penetration, he starts going faster, but still thrusting deep. As he builds to a steady, hard rhythm, I feel my body starting to lose control. I can tell he's close, too, though, because he's panting hard, and his eyes are closed now. His panting increases, and, thrown over the edge by the nearness of his orgasm, mine do, too. We come together, and he collapses on my chest. "Oh, Tera," he says again softly. "I haven't told you this in so many words yet, but I love you."

Hearing that, I quiver, and he looks up at me in concern. "I love you too, Vincent. No one's ever said that to me before. No one's ever made love to me for my pleasure before, either." I kiss him, hard. "Never say again that you're not good enough for me," I demand. "You are perfect for me, and I will never have anyone else. No one else could ever do this to me."

He stares at me in wonder. "Okay, I won't say it," he says. "But you have to agree to the same thing. You make me feel more alive than I ever have, and more than I ever will without you."

I smile. "Good. We're settled, then."

We lay like that for awhile, then Vincent says, hesitantly, "What if I've gotten you pregnant?"

I laugh. "Then we'll have a beautiful child. What else?" I stroke his hair. "I want your children, Vincent."

"Do you?" His sudden seriousness worries me. "What if they're not totally human?"

"We'll deal with it together. I've been a Scout for most of my life, Vincent. I've seen 'totally' humans do more horrible things to each other than you could ever dream of." I kiss him. "Enough depressing talk. You're not allowed to go emo on me."

"Why not?" He tries to give me a frown, but the corners of his mouth keep twitching. "It's expected of me."

"Not by me, and I'm the only one who counts," I tell him. "Besides, you just got laid. What is there to be emo about?"

He laughs, his first laugh since the fight. "Okay, okay. You win."

"Usually," I retort, speaking around a yawn. "Oh, gods. I want to stay up and talk to you, and look at you, and. . ."

He cuts me off, gently. "I'll be here in the morning, Tera. We're both tired, and you have a job to do tomorrow."

I stare at him for a long second. "Doesn't it bother you that something hideous could happen to me every time I go out?"

"Yes, but the same applies to me," he replies calmly. "I'm not going to keep you penned up when this is what you love doing."

I smile at him. "See? You don't need to worry about Tseng carrying me off. He tried to cage me."

He chuckles. "Brave of him to try, anyway." When I poke him indignantly, he laughs. "Be nice, or I'll go sleep in the chair."

I wrap my arms around him. "No, you won't." We get up for a minute, to clean up after ourselves, then settle back into bed, not bothering to get re-dressed. "I love you, Vincent," I whisper.

"I love you too, Tera."

_**Note:** Okay...that got kinda...sweet, didn't it? Errrr...I'm a hopeless romantic, in case you haven't noticed. I promise there's actual PLOT coming. Someone, **please**, help me figure out what to take out. Save me. I've asked other people before I published it, but they wouldn't commit to actually reading this. I know it's too big, and I need help cutting it back down. Please review and let me know what you think overall._


	14. Chapter 14

_Right. Sooo... I know it's been a SERIOUSLY long time since I updated, but my motherboard went foom, followed shortly by my husband resecuring our network... and forgetting to put my laptop on the "allowed" list. I'm actually at my in-laws', and the motherboard is still foom. So, don't expect updates often, but I promise I shall try. This is mostly written, it just needs polishing and sectioning. Errr... the language will only get worse from here, I'm afraid. I swear a LOT. Oh, and THANK YOU for all the lovely comments. I'm overwhelmed by how positive the response is. Love you all!_

**14**

Damien wakes me early the next morning. "Sorry, Captain, but your brother's here, and he wants to talk to you right now."

I mutter something obscene. "Give us a minute," I tell him. "Tiarnan bloody knows I'm not a bloody morning person." As Damien closes the door, I nudge Vincent. "Come on, love. My brother's here to yell at us."

"Yay. More yelling," Vincent mutters. He gets up and helps me get dressed. "Just what we need."

"I know, but he's family. I can't tell him to go away and come back later."

Tiarnan is sitting down at the dining room table, being served a lavish breakfast by Reeve. "There you are!" he exclaims. "I was thinking you were going to take all morning."

"It's seven in the morning, big brother. I have a survey mission to do, but I was looking forward to having a peaceful morning. Silly me, I suppose." I yawn. "Please get this over with quickly. I have had both the best and worst week of my life, all rolled into one."

Tiarnan blinks. It's not like me to take the offensive immediately, but I don't want anyone else hitting Vincent. "Someone woke up cranky today."

"Did you not hear that last sentence? I think a little 'cranky' is deserved by now." Reeve shoos Vincent and me into chairs, and gives us plates. "Owen's not even up for breakfast yet," I complain. "Why should I be?"

"You don't want breakfast?" Reeve mock pouts. "Well, I could take it back. . ." I hold onto my plate, already half through the eggs.

Tiarnan doesn't even smile, and I know Tseng has gotten to him. "Dammit, can't I at least have one day when people are going to be _nice_ to the man I love?" Everyone gapes at me in shock, except Vincent, who only touches my arm gently.

"He's your brother, Tera," Reeve protests. "He's supposed to do this."

"I'm not letting you talk to him until Cloud tells you **all** of what happened yesterday," I say flatly. "I have had enough of this bullshit." There's a hint of a giggle, at the back of my hearing, and I whirl, ignoring the faint twinge it gives my back. "If you do not get further away from me than you are right now, Yuffie, I swear by everything holy, I will cut your eyeballs out!" Even Vincent looks a bit startled at that, but Yuffie scrambles off.

Tiarnan sighs. "All right. I can tell there's more going on than what I know already. Reeve, is Cloud up yet?"

"Yeah. He's out back." Vincent, Tiarnan, and I go out to the yard, but not before I eat all of my breakfast, and snag some more bacon.

Cloud doesn't look a bit surprised to see us, even Tiarnan, who he's never met. "Good morning." He grins wryly at me. "I heard you shouting at Yuffie. I'll keep an eye out and make sure she stays away from all of you."

"Thanks," I reply. "That probably was a bit much, but. . ."

Cloud finishes my sentence. "But you've had it with her. I know. Don't worry about it." He looks at my brother. "You must be Tiarnan. I'm Cloud Strife. I take it you want me to tell him what happened yesterday, Tera?"

"If you would, please," I say. "I wasn't there, so I can't, and Vincent is admittedly biased." As Cloud goes over the whole thing, including things he had thought it prudent not to mention in front of Tifa and Demi, Tiarnan's face goes white.

When the impassive recital is over, Tiarnan turns to Vincent. "I'm sorry, Vincent. Tera and I have known Tseng for years, and I didn't think he'd deceive me like that." He grins at me. "Obviously, my tigress of a sister really likes you, so for her sake, I'll give you a shot."

I hug my brother. "Thank you," I tell him. "I have had the most hellacious time convincing anyone other than you and these people here," I flip my head at Cloud, who only smiles, "that you can't pry us apart with a crowbar. Tseng is being possessive, that's all. He never got over me."

"True enough," Tiarnan agrees. "If you need me to convince anyone for you, I can do that."

I see Rude coming toward us out of the corner of my eye, and gulp. "I might have to take you up on that immediately," I tell Tiarnan.

He turns to see the big, bald man come to a full stop in front of Vincent. They're eyeing each other, but I can't sense any of the hostility from yesterday, so I relax. "Vincent," Rude says.

"Rude. Good morning," Vincent replies.

"Have you slept with her yet?" I wince. Trust Rude to be blunt. Even worse, Cloud and Tiarnan seem interested in the answer.

"I'm not sure that's really your business, and I don't think Tiarnan wants to hear about his sister's love life," Vincent replies, his voice even.

"I beg to differ," Tiarnan says, his voice harder. "I'm rather interested in finding out."

Cloud glances at me, and when I nod very slightly, he takes me aside. "A moment, lads," he says. "But I'm going to talk to Tera about this real quick, so we can spare her the mortification."

"Too late," I mutter. My face is burning, and Cloud smiles at me.

"When?" he asks me softly.

"Last night. It's been that kind of week, Cloud." The other three guys are watching us in bemusement. I look down at my feet, waiting for the explosion, which doesn't come.

"Well your timing could have been better," he sighs, "but you couldn't have known. What should we tell your brother?"

"I don't know," I laugh, almost hysterical. "It hasn't come up before." Vincent gives his friend a concerned look, and Cloud shakes his head.

"Well, your best bet is to come right out and tell them, and hope for the best, I guess." He doesn't sound at all certain, though.

"Hope for the best?" My voice cracks. "This is my brother and Rude we're talking about, Cloud! They'll probably kill him."

Vincent walks over. "What's wrong?"

I snort. "We're trying to save you from getting your other eye blacked." I sigh, then walk over to the other two. "I seduced Vincent last night, okay? He wouldn't have done it if I hadn't, but I did." I wince as my brother's eyes narrow. "I'm not lying to you, Tiarnan!" I snap. "When have I ever lied to you about something important?"

"Never. . .yet." His reply is cool.

"Oh, fuck _off_," I reply. "It's none of your business anyway! I'm a grown woman, Tiarnan; I can seduce whoever the hell I want to." When he takes a threatening step toward Vincent, I step in front of him. "Last time we had a throw-down I was thirteen," I say in a low voice. "I won that one, and I wasn't even a Master yet. I've _been_ a Master for ten years. Do you want to try me again?"

He stares at me. "I'm just trying to take care of you!" he shouts.

"Maybe I'm sick of people trying to take care of me, and I want to try to do it for myself for a change!" I shout back. "I'm not a little girl anymore, and I'm not that much younger than you. What is the big fucking deal, anyway? Is it because it's Vincent, and not Tseng?"

Rude says, quietly, "I would say I'm sorry I started this, but I think it would have happened anyway. For what it's worth, I'm satisfied. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I cool down. "Thank you, Rude, and you're right. He's been wanting this fight all morning." I hug my big friend. "You're the only person besides Reeve and Tifa who hasn't rejected this."

"Not surprising," he says, snagging my brother by the arm before Tiarnan can lunge at Vincent, not changing his voice at all. "We're all the people who are concerned about both of you." He grins at the surprised look exchanged between Vincent and Cloud. "I just want someone who won't try to contain you."

I chuckle. "You and me both."

Tiarnan has stopped struggling, surprised by Rude's last comment. He considers for a moment, then blushes. "Sorry, Tera. I let my overprotectiveness have free rein again. You're right; it's none of my business." He hugs me. "I hope you still can have a good day."

"I get to ask random people stupid questions," I reply impishly. "That will be fun enough."

To my surprise, both Rude and Tiarnan hug Vincent. "Take good care of her," Rude says. "I rather think she'll be taking care of you, but nevertheless."

Vincent laughs, and doesn't reply. I lean on his shoulder. "Good gods, why am I up?" I moan. "And I have to _stay_ up."

I brighten up as we go inside. The recruit I'm working with today reminds me a lot of me, just a bit older than I was. Her name is Calli, and she's waiting at the door. "Good morning, Captain," she says. "Aren't you glad to be up and about again?"

"Oh, yes," I reply. "Even if it is just to do a survey."

"With respect, Captain, will people really answer these questions?"

"You'd be surprised," Demi says. "It's confidential, so people won't be afraid of giving their opinions. Everyone thinks they know exactly how to run things, if someone would only ask them. So we're asking them."

"Ready?" I ask, after getting all kitted out. "We'll be gone until midday, at least, so get everything you think you may need. We'll tell you if it's unnecessary."

Vincent hauls me aside as Demi helps Calli. "Are you sure you don't want to take Cerberus, just in case? I know you will take every precaution, but your knives won't stop everything."

I smile at him. "We're just going a few blocks today. I'd rather not go anywhere near corporation HQ right now, and the only other way out of the center of town is blocked off after that last storm."

He nods slowly. "I said I wouldn't pen you up, but. . . Just be careful, okay?" He kisses me. "I love you."

I smile at him. "I love you too."

The minute we're out of earshot of the building, Calli giggles. "Wow. I'd give my left arm for any guy to look at me like that, much less Vincent Valentine."

I laugh. "Can you believe he didn't believe me when I told him he's hot? I had to have Tifa confirm it."

She glances down at the survey. "Is that what started this?" I grin. I don't recruit stupid people. "I'll have to thank him. I was thinking we were never going to get out of there."

"Owen driving you crazy?" I ask, chuckling. "He does that. It's startlingly effective at getting people with no patience out of our hair."

"I bet." We make our way to a small market square, and start handing out our surveys. When we've handed most of them to random people, we then set up a stall, with a box for people to put the finished ones in. "This is the boring part of this job," I tell my greenie. "Waiting takes up most of a Scout's missions, though, so get used to it now."

As people come up and shyly drop off their surveys, or ask questions, we smile and use our people skills. Calli is very good, but there's a reason I'm a Master. When one solemn-faced lady in her middle years asks, furtively, "Can I put down that I think Vincent Valentine is the most gorgeous man alive?" I have to send Calli off before she explodes from trying not to laugh.

"I happen to agree with you, ma'am," is my straight-faced answer, "and I know for a fact the information will be useful."

She beams at me. "I can't blame that your friend for giggling at me. I know it's foolish, but something about that young man sets fire to my blood." After she leaves and Calli comes back, I duck behind the booth to laugh quietly till I cry.

We gather more than five hundred surveys before lunch. "Excellent," I say. "Since you'll be helping me analyze this, do you think this is enough to keep you busy, or do you want to go out again after lunch?"

She laughs. "This is enough for now. If I get any more people like that dear lady, I might not be able to stop laughing. How did you, of all people, control yourself?"

"I've had fifteen years of training," I remind her dryly. "I could have someone come up and tell me they want Vincent to do dirty things to them all night long and I'll restrain myself." She giggles at that, and we're gossiping about the different people we saw when we enter the dining room.

Owen takes the stacks from us. "Whoof! Did you ask everyone in town?"

"Well, we gave some out to people at market, and they must have told their friends. We've got about five hundred just this morning. Calli says that's quite enough for her for today, so I can take someone else out for a short run this afternoon." Vincent is looking at me intensely, and I grin. "Late this afternoon." We discuss the results over lunch, and Calli is the one who mentions the middle-aged woman. Vincent turns scarlet, and I laugh almost as hard as I did the first time. "She also said something about you sets fire to her blood," I drawl, and he gives me a hard look. "She did! I could probably go find her again. . ." He mutters a hasty negative, and everyone laughs. I look around, and realize Yuffie is gone. "I don't mean to starve the girl, Reeve. Did Yuffie eat earlier?"

"Why, yes," he replies, surprised. "She said she had an errand to run."

"Good." When I see how everyone is looking at me, I roll my eyes. "I'd go real far in this job if I wasted time being vindictive. By her own reasoning, Yuffie has every right to dislike me." I shrug. "It's not like I'm going to give over and become very best friends with her, but you guys have known her for long enough for her to matter to you."

Cloud smiles. "Thank you for that. She does have her redeeming qualities."

After lunch, Vincent almost drags me up to our room. And it is our room, I see. He's spent the morning moving in. "I missed you all morning," he murmurs, and I stop thinking about interior design as he pushes me onto the bed and starts taking off both of our clothes.

Awhile later, I wander downstairs to find my next recruit. Owen smirks at me, but I ignore it. "Where's Michel?" I ask Damien, who at least has the decency to _try_ to stop snickering. "Oh, knock that off. If either of you gets laid ever again, you won't hear the end of it, you hear me?"

Owen snorts. "Fat chance." When I raise my eyebrow at him, he shrugs. "Haven't met anyone, at any rate."

Damien says, "Michel is set up and ready to go by the door."

Nanaki pulls me aside as I approach. "I saw Yuffie talking to this young man, earlier," he tells me. "I don't know what it was about, but be on your guard." He turns as if to go, then turns back. "Also, when she left, she seemed to be going toward where you went with Vincent and Owen the other day."

"Bugger," I mutter. "More complications. Thank you, Nanaki. I'll be careful. If we're not back in five hours, at the latest, send Damien and a couple of the Recon guys after us, okay?" he nods, and I approach my greenie. I've felt uneasy about him for awhile, but am not sure why. It might just be that he's always just on the verge of open insolence. "Hello, Michel. Ready to go?"

"Why are we doing this, Captain?" Like that. The words are innocent enough, but the tone comes just short of setting my teeth right on edge.

"Reeve has been nice enough to let us crash his place, so I thought we'd combine training with giving him a hand. You'd be surprised what people will tell you when you actually ask."

We head off a different direction this time, toward the storm blockage. "There's an open-air entertainment arena down this way," I tell my recruit. "Should be plenty of people there."

He laughs, nastily, and I whirl. Too late. A thug hits me over the head. "You forgot about on the way, _Captain_." I fuzzily realize that his voice and face are somehow different, but I pass out before I can figure out why he still sounds familiar.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author Note:**_ Alrighty. This is where it gets weird. Since Tera's point of view would be very boring at this point, seeing as she's out cold, we're switching over to Vincent. PLEASE PLEASE let me know if this works, because a) I've never written in a male, first-person, POV before; and b) It does some switching back and forth. The time overlap is for dramatic effect. Anyhoo:_ Vincent's POV will look like this, unless you think it's unnecessary. Just wanting to avoid confusion._Thanks!_

_Oh shit. Almost forgot. **There is a rape scene. It is disturbing. If that will bother you, skip the part of the text that is NOT underlined. You'll be a bit confused, but not too much.**_

**15**

It's been several hours, and Tera still isn't back. I tell myself to stop being paranoid and relax, but I've had a bad feeling about this since I met this Michel. He just seems like he's hiding something. "Vincent?" Nanaki's voice breaks into my thoughts. "Have you seen Damien?"

Hearing the worry in my friend's voice, and seeing his ears drooping, I sit up straighter. "Tera's missing, isn't she?" It's almost completely dark outside, and she left shortly after lunch.

"I believe so," Nanaki replies, ears drooping further. "I'm sorry Vincent. She told me to tell Damien."

"We both will, then you and I will hunt ourselves," I say, jumping to my feet. Nanaki's eyes light up. "Her Recon squad is good; we just have certain. . . advantages." He nods, and we race down the stairs.

Damien is with Recon, discussing training. He looks up when we stalk in, and frowns. "I was expecting the Captain."

Nanaki bows. "When she left, Tera told me to instruct you to take a squad out if she did not return in five hours. That time limit was passed a little while ago. Vincent and I are also going to search. The more eyes we have on it, the faster we will find out what happened."

Damien nods. "Do you know which way they were headed?"

"Toward the storm damage, I believe," Nanaki answers. "She and Calli canvassed the hub this morning."

"We'll head that way. Do you have any leads to go on?"

"Yes," Nanaki says, eyeing me. "I think we do."

As we leave, I say, "I'm positive Yuffie has something to do with this. Why do I think I'm not going to like the rest of it?"

The last time I saw her, like I told Tera, she was streaking off in the direction you, Tera and Owen went the other day. Whoever is there, Tera's been avoiding them."

My mouth tightens. "The Shinra Corporation. That means Tseng is probably involved."

Nanaki nods. "I was afraid of that. He will know what has happened, though, and I'm sure we can, er, persuade him."

As we take off for the HQ, I'm becoming afraid that by the time we find Tera, it may be too late.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

I regain consciousness, then instantly wish I hadn't. The scene before me is eerily familiar, with me stripped bare and tied up. The only missing element is. . .no. There he is, in the corner. Hojo. "Surprised, my dear?" he asks. "I've heard the rumors of my demise. It suits me to continue that ruse, since there are many people, including your new friends, who would love to make sure." After almost fifteen years, I can finally control my shaking around him. "Not going to plead with me? Pity. It might make me more. . . forgiving." As he comes toward me, a shadow detaches itself from the wall.

"Pardon me, Professor. But my only request for payment was that I be the one to give this slut what she deserves." Now I recognize the voice. Marcus, a Scout who I was passed over for my command. There is still some of Michel in his voice, and someone else. I gasp. "Ah, she recognizes me. How touching." That voice is similar to one of the Scouts I'd had at the old base, one of the ones who hadn't returned.

"Owen is going to roast you over a slow fire already, Marcus. And he doesn't know who you really are, so he'll probably introduce red-hot skewers when he finds out." My voice comes out calm. "Your disguise tricks are what got you thrown out of the Guild to begin with."

"Enough!" Marcus growls, hitting me across the face. "I am going to enjoy this. You, not so much." He adjusts the position of my shackles, and dry-rapes me.. I can't hold back a scream. They're going to kill me, though, oddly, Hojo hasn't moved to join his henchman. Mercifully, I black out again.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

We arrive at the corporation building less than a half an hour after we've left the base. "That's his office, up there." I point it out for Nanaki. "I'm not sure the receptionist will let either of us in, but I'll bet Rude will."

When we walk in through the front door, Reno, who is flirting with the receptionist (Milla?), starts, then stands up straight. "I don't know if you're allowed in here," he says.

"I would like to talk to Rude about that," I reply. "Please hurry; it's important."

Reno nods, slowly. "I'll do that," he says, turning as he speaks.

Rude arrives not two minutes later. "What's going on?" he asks. "That you're here must mean that something has happened to Tera." I take him aside, and Nanaki and I explain the situation to him.

"Did Yuffie come by here?" At the look on his face, I sigh. "You don't have to answer. When?"

"About two, maybe three hours ago?" He turns to Reno. "When was that Wutai wench here?"

"Just after five, I think," Reno replies. "She seemed to be in a hurry."

I swear softly. "The timing is just too close to be coincidence. What has Tseng been doing?"

"Making phone calls, I think," Rude says. "He didn't seem to want us up there while he was." I shake my head. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know," I admit. "We don't know who has her or where they are."

"Damn. I'll go with you to talk to Tseng. Reno, you and -?" He turns to my furry friend.

"Nanaki," he supplies.

"Right. You and Reno go get the president. If we can't talk Tseng down, the boss will have to."

"Good idea," I agree. I suppress a flash of rage. "He might have to stop me killing someone."

As Rude opens the door to Tseng's office, we hear him on the phone: "No, no. That's fine. You don't. . ." He trails off as I follow Rude into the room. "I have to go. Now." He hangs up the phone. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Rude says, "I work here, sir. As for Vincent, he just has some questions."

"Who says I'm going to answer them?"

"Well, I can already tell him _someone_ paid you for something. I saw the money change hands. It's up to you to tell us when where, and why."

"This is insubordination, Rude."

"No, Tseng, it is not. What you're doing could have dire consequences on this corporation."

"How?"

I lose my patience. "For starters, if I throw you out of your window," I say. "We don't have a lot of time, and I didn't have much patience with you to start with."

Tseng snorts. "You wouldn't. I won't tell you anything."

I scoop him up with my right hand. "Oh, really?" I shake him by the throat. "Feel like talking now?"

He grunts a laugh. "Never. You won't kill me. You need to find out what I know to save your precious girlfriend." That is entirely the wrong thing to say to me when I have him two feet off the ground by his neck.

I shake him again. "Where is she, Tseng?" He glances at Rude, who isn't moving. "Rude isn't going to help you, Tseng, and Yuffie's long gone. "Tell me who has her! Who did you sell Tera to?" I hear a gasp at the door, and see Rufus Shinra standing in the doorway in the corner of my peripheral vision.

"It's true, boss," Rude tells the president. "I saw that Wutai bitch pay him off right after Tera got grabbed, and so did Reno." Rufus only nods. He's nowhere near as suicidal as Tseng is, and clearly has no desire to get in my path.

Tseng claws at my gloved hand. "You'll kill me anyway," he croaks.

"Maybe not," I snarl. "Tera seems to still care about what happens to you. But for her to have any say, I have to get to her in time." I shake him again.

Rufus clears his throat, and I glance at him. "If you promise you won't kill Tseng, I'll help you any way I can, including persuading him." I stare at him for a long moment, but he doesn't flinch. "I give you the same guarantee I gave Tera."

I nod slowly. "But only if he tells me what I need to know. Otherwise, he's going out the window, and I'll look through his paperwork and follow other leads." I don't say that with any heat; it's just the plain truth. I can tell that Rufus is praying that Tseng isn't totally suicidal.

He's not. "Put me down, and I'll draw you a fucking map," he gasps. I set him down, turn him around and have my gauntlet on his shoulder before he has a whole breath drawn. He flinches at the look on my face, and sketches part of the Old City. "It was. . ." He hesitates, but chooses the less certain suicide. "Hojo," he breathes.

I start shaking violently. Through the din in my head, I hear Rude and Rufus exclaim in unison, "Are you _completely_ insane?!"

Rude adds, "So, what: After you tried to get justice for her, you picked up his phone number, just in case you changed your mind?" My shaking becomes more pronounced, and I can hear the Beast trying to get free.

"Rude! You and Nanaki grab Vincent!" Rufus shouts, and he and Reno pull Tseng back and restrain him.

It's too late. The Beast has woken, and it's all I can do not to lose all of Vincent Valentine. "Get out!" I snarl. "Quickly!" Nanaki stays.

"The Beast knows me," he says, calmly. "Rude and the other two will find out what we need to know, but you need a friend with you." As the Beast takes over, I have a moment of profound gratitude for the unflappable Canyon guardian.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:**_ Okay, seriously. It gets stranger as it goes along. I was kinda winging it. I'm trying to make everything match up, so if there're inconsistencies, lemme know. _

**16**

I wake to darkness. For a blessed second, I am alone. Then I hear a very familiar giggle. I turn my head slightly, trying not to alert my captors that I'm conscious again. I needn't have worried. Yuffie's giggling while Marcus tells her all the things he's done to me so far (amongst other things). Far as I can tell, most of it is lies. He sees me watching and nudges her. Since I'm still bound, I resort to witty repartee: "Do you always take sex as a payment, Marcus? You'll never make any money that way." Hojo is nowhere to be found.

He blinks. "A bit on the sharp side, considering you're still in our tender care," he replies.

Yuffie says, "Tseng helped me get you here, Tera. Your childhood friend turned you over to your worst nightmare."

"Given up on Vincent, have you?" I retort. "He's going to kill you the next time he sees you. And there's no way you can claim you weren't involved. Nanaki saw you head for Tseng. Lord and Lady, girl, my raw recruits have better sense than to leave an open trail!"

Marcus glares at both of us. "Did you?" he asks, harshly.

"Yes, but. . ." he snarls, and moves away from her. "I thought we were in a hurry!"

"That's the trouble of not being able to use real Scouts, Marcus. We're the best." I'm sure Yuffie thinks I'm suicidal, but I've known Marcus at least as long as I have most of my Twenty. When he's annoyed, he tends to give valuable tidbits away.

"The men I hired worked, did they? You're here."

"You left a trail a dead troll could follow," I scoff. "Recon will be here before you know it."

"Oh, you'd better fucking _hope_ someone saves you," he growls. "But they'd have to get through Hojo's security first. Do you think they can outwit him?"

"Yes." That's all I say, but he hears the conviction in my voice. "They've gotten through to the heart of this city's dark organizations without being caught once. My Recon squad has never lost a target, and they're not going to start with me. You'd just better hope they get here before Vincent Valentine does."

He flinches at the look in my face. "We'll be long gone before then, and you will be a breeding ground for the worms!" Yuffie retorts.

I chuckle, low in my chest, and say no more. I've noticed that my upper left shackle is a touch loose. Not enough for probably anyone else in Midgar, but I'm not the youngest Master in Guild history for nothing. Marcus doesn't rise to the bait, and caresses Yuffie, more to distract her than out of lust, I'm sure.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I come out of the Beast surprisingly fast. Something more urgent is driving me. "Where are we going?" I croak to Nanaki. "Do we know?"

"Yes. Are you all right?"

"Fine. Let's go." I can feel the Beast raging, but I don't have time for it now. Some part of my soul must have made a bargain with it to make it free me so quickly. But I don't have time to speculate. Rude has trussed Tseng up, and they obviously mean to take him with us.

"Insurance," Rude explains. "He won't lead us to a trap if he's completely helpless to get away himself."

I lean into the dark-haired man's face before entering the Shinra chopper. "In case you do feel like a quick suicide, if you lead us anywhere but straight to Tera, I will disembowel you, which is a slow, messy, and very painful death."

Reno shakes his head. "I sometimes regret that you're on the other side now, Vincent. You could scare Death."

"I plan to. We've lost too much time. Unless whoever took her left a clear trail, we'll still beat Recon, but not by a lot. Every minute lost is another Tera has to survive Hojo."

"Saving Tera is our first priority," Rufus comments, "but if we don't get a crack at Hojo, we will spare no expense to track him down. I want that man found and killed! Then, just to be sure this time, burn the gods-damned body!"

"We would have," Nanaki comments dryly, "but your men were chasing us, and the building was collapsing. It was more prudent to leave."

"Fair enough," Reno says. "Let's see. . ." he scans the roofs below us. "This is the closest I can land, boss."

"Fine. Let's go." Rufus cocks his shotgun. Seeing Nanaki's and my surprise, he grins wolfishly. "Tera saved my life once. I think I'll return the favor." I grin back. Unspoken is the thought that we'll need all the help we can get.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

I hear a crash up above. I don't even dare to hope too loud, because Hojo's back, and he means business this time. "I could duplicate the majority of Dr. Crescent's research, and make you much like Vincent Valentine," he says. He's not talking to me, more to himself. "Or. . .I'm sure I saved some Jenova Essence somewhere."

"Tseng said they destroyed it," Yuffie says.

"Pity. It would be interesting to see if Jenova herself was reborn in a female host." I sigh inwardly. The man really is nuts. The first thing I would do as Jenova reborn is the same I'll do if I get free: Kill Hojo. Another crash, louder this time, sounds above. "What is it now?" He walks to the other room to look at the security monitors.

"Yuffie, watch the prisoner." Hojo sounds distracted. Good. I can take Yuffie, easily. I look at her, and I'm startled to see how glazed her eyes look; I realize that she hasn't totally been working on her own free will. Hojo's drugged her, or something.

Marcus smirks at me. "Your Recon idiots are making enough noise to bring the roof down." I don't dignify that with a response, but inwardly I grin. If it _is_ Recon, they're doing it on purpose. "I think I'll go bring your 'no people lost' record crashing down for you." He drifts toward the stairs. "I've got it, Professor," he tells Hojo, who waves him off.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

To my surprise, we see Damien at the window. Not daring to hope Michel is that stupid, I turn to Tseng, who is now white. "I swear this is the right place," he croaks. "I don't really want her to _die_, Vincent." I believe him. His dark blue eyes are bloodshot, and he looks like he's been dragged backward through the hells. "Hojo has a _lot_ of security."

Rufus considers for a minute, but Nanaki is already trotting back with Recon at his heels. "We're not all going to get in there without endangering Tera. Do any of you have a sniper rifle?"

I wordlessly hand him mine.

"Thank you. I'll take Tseng up there," he points to the next roof, "and we'll take out the wall guards. Tseng nods. He doesn't want Tera to see him, I bet.

"I'll need a distraction, Damien," I tell the leader of Recon. "They won't be expecting Scouts to make that much noise, and it'll throw them. Nanaki and I will go in through the roof." The young man nods.

"Be careful, Vincent," he says. "If we save her and lose you, it's still a smear on our record. Besides, she won't be very stable, and we'll need you to help her."

"Right." I smile at them. "I have someone to live for, no worries." I echo Tera's favorite reassurance consciously, hoping to instill some kind of courage in her men. I guess it works, since shoulders straighten.

Owen comes toward us as the other Scouts prepare to break through the door. "I'm coming with you."

"Don't you have a Scout squad to run?" I ask quietly, remembering our plan to teach him and Demi that they weren't all they thought they were. "Tera won't thank you if Michel has an additional plan to take her Scouts down and you're not there."

Owen flushes. "Demi's still there. Dammit, Vincent, I've known her for twenty years! I can't sit somewhere safe while that crooked bastard is doing gods know what to her!" Despite the heat in his voice, it's still low. Tera's training apparently even applies to emotional response. "Let's go."

"We have, er. . .well, I suppose you would call them supernatural skills," Nanaki says gently. "How will you keep up with us?"

"I've been a Scout for fifteen years," Owen replies. "How will _you_ keep up with _me_?"

I only shake my head at Nanaki. We're losing time. "If you really think you can, stay. But if you fall too far behind, don't come in the same way we do." I'm already making my way to the fire escape.

"Yes, granther," Owen retorts softly. "Do you want to teach me how to put on my boots, too?" I chuckle under my breath. Tera's right: He really can't repress his "smartassness."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

I have to get to Yuffie before anyone gets here. Right now, I'm the only one who knows that she's been mind-controlled. I grit my mental teeth. I'm about to do something I would never do to save someone I don't even like. "I, uh, notice Yuffie hasn't stolen anything, Hojo. How did you manage that?"

"I paid note to the techniques used when Sephiroth made Cloud Strife bring the Black Materia to him." To my surprise, the professor seems willing enough to share his secret. "It's based off the same principles. I injected the young lady with a serum I made to test the theory, infused with some of my own blood, bound with Jenova influence, although Sephiroth's blood would have been sufficient, since I am genetically his father." He smiles at Yuffie, who smiles back dumbly. "She keeps enough of her natural personality to fool the casual onlooker, but we don't have any of the drawbacks to keeping her around."

"Did you do the same to Marcus?" I ask, betting on a hunch. "He has a long list of things that got him removed from the Guild."

"There was no need. He seems to have honed himself to come after you. He does still have his moments, I'm afraid. Where is Marcus, anyway?" My theory is right. Hojo had been so caught up in what he was doing that he hadn't noticed when that idiot left.

"He went to see to the intruders," Yuffie says. "You told me to watch the prisoner. I'm doing fine. She's just asking questions. Is that okay?" I give an internal shudder at the mindless concern in her voice. I'm starting to miss the loud kleptomaniac.

"Yes, Yuffie," Hojo replies. "Questions are fine." He frowns. "Marcus shouldn't have left, though." He frowns at us. "Did you have any other questions, Tera? I really must go after Marcus."

I don't want to betray my eagerness to have him gone. I think I know how to heal the brainwashing, so the only other question I can think of is, "How did you get Yuffie to take a shot?"

"Marcus thought she was an intruder, and hit her over the head before we could find out what she was here for. That _is_ one thing I wish I could stop him doing." Hojo shakes his head and goes upstairs.

As soon as he leaves, I carefully slip my arm out of the shackle. Yuffie is looking after Hojo, and I'm a champion lock-picker. I have both of my hands free in an instant, and my feet a second later. I snag my pot of extra-strong salve, the one I only use for emergencies. I see a red mark on Yuffie's arm and, praying there's enough lifestream in the leaf to have the effect I want, I clap one hand over her mouth and dab a huge blob of the stuff on the injection mark.

As I'd hoped, the sore is still open, or open enough, and I see her eyes clear and widen as it takes effect. "Hojo drugged you," I whisper. "We're in his hideout. I think Recon is here, but I can't be sure." I stare her in the eyes. "I believe you wouldn't actually give me to Hojo, if only because it would be completely suicidal. What happened?" We have time to burn while whoever it is upstairs distracts, and hopefully eliminates, security.

"I wouldn't because you're actually pretty cool when we're not fighting," Yuffie says. "Not like we haven't been a lot, but everyone seems to like you. I just saw Vincent paying more attention to you than he ever does me, and I got so mad!" This is a side of the ninja I haven't seen before. She seems shocked, but almost back to normal. "That stuff tingles," she mutters, rubbing her arm.

"It's supposed to. I don't know what it will do about Hojo's blood, but you seem fine. How did you come here?"

"I have Hojo's blood in me? Eeeeeew. . .That blonde recruit, Michel, he asked me if I wanted to get back at you. I said yeah, of course I did, and he told me to come here. Then that Marcus guy hit me. I remember Hojo telling you that. I remember part of it, now. . ." Her eyes widen. "What did I get us into _this_ time?"

"We'll be fine. Marcus keeps underestimating my Scouts. If that was Recon making noise, they were being a distraction." I shake my head as she makes for the stairs. "Let them thin the ranks a bit. Neither one of us is up to full strength right now; I also want to poke around."

"You're the boss." When I blink at her in surprise, she grins. "You've been in situations like this before; I haven't."

"Surprising," I reply dryly, and she laughs.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

We wait for the crash that signals that Recon has made their grand entrance, and then drop soundlessly through a broken skylight. Owen, true to his word, has kept up easily, and he grins at us in the moonlight. "Let's party." His face turns serious. "You have a better chance of getting Tera out of here than I do, so I'll leave you to it. If Hojo has any sense, he has some sort of method for dealing with intruders. I'm going to go screw that right up."

My eyes narrow. "You want a crack at Michel, don't you?"

He laughs. "However did you guess? I didn't get to gut the last traitor, so it's only fair that I get the first shot at this one. See you outside," he adds, winking.

"Imp," Nanaki says with a low chuckle. "He's right, though. We're better at walking unseen." He looks at me for a minute. "You're hoping Hojo's down there, aren't you?"

"I'm conflicted, actually," I reply honestly. "If he is, he's been doing things to Tera, and we might be too late to save her. However, I don't want to let him creep off again."

"I can appreciate that," my friend says. "If we spot him before we get to her, I will try to bring him down. You concentrate on getting her out of here safely."

I smile at Nanaki. "She's charmed you, too, has she?" He laughs softly.

"That, and I feel I relate to you quite well, I think." He shakes his head. "Enough philosophy. We have a job to do."

"Indeed." We take out a couple of guards, but the combination of Recon, Owen, and Rufus (taking potshots whenever he can) has thrown everything into chaos. I see someone dash by, coming from downstairs. It's Michel. . .and it's not. "A disguise?" I mutter to Nanaki, who shakes his head.

"The other one was. His scent is coming through clearer than it was before. I wonder if Owen knew that?"

"I think he probably did," I chuckle. "He just didn't want to tell us in case he was wrong. But, if that's the traitor, that means Tera's probably downstairs." We start to head for the stairs, but the man has stopped.

"Well, she was right," he says to himself. "Those are her Scouts." He laughs softly, and heads away from the melee.

I swear to myself. "We have to go after him; he's _definitely_ up to something." I sigh. "Go get Owen. I'll try to slow this bastard down." Nanaki nods and dashes off.

I trail the traitor carefully, not knowing his abilities. He keeps stopping to look behind him, but I believe that's just paranoia, since he keeps muttering as well. "Can't let Hojo see this, either," I hear. "He'd go nuts."

I find out what "this" is the next minute. Michel, or whatever his name is, has loosed one of the old monsters, probably from one of Hojo's sample chambers. I swear to myself. The man is obviously insane. Nanaki and Owen come up silently next to me, and Nanaki matches my curses with his own. Owen isn't watching the monster. His eyes are fixed on the traitor. "Dammit, that's Marcus Tomallen!" he mutters. "He's been the traitor _both_ times, and neither time with his own face. I'd find out how he's been doing it, except I'd much rather cut his throat."

I touch his shoulder. "That's a Mako-produced monster. It can't be taken down with normal abilities. Nanaki, you don't happen to have anything equipped, do you? Because I don't."

"Sensing materia and Fire," Nanaki replies. "I always have something on, Vincent. I never know when I'll need it."

"Thank the stars for that," I reply. "What are you sensing?"

"It's strong, and furious, but it does happen to be vulnerable to fire. Owen and I will take care of it. Take Shadowcat off my back and go get Tera, now."

I'm about to argue, but then I remember Rufus. "My sniper rifle has fire materia on it," I whisper. "Draw it out to in front of the big windows. Owen, get Marcus. Don't let him get away!" I take Shadowcat, and head immediately for the stairs. I reach them just in time to see Hojo coming upstairs. My fingers twitch. I want to grab him, because I know Nanaki can't, but I have to get to Tera.

Suddenly, I hear a shout from outside. "Vincent, get **down**!" I throw myself for the stairs just in time. A fireball whooshes through the window, vaporizing the glass and seeming to miss Hojo. "Dammit!" Rufus says.

"Wait a minute," Damien says slowly. "There oughta at least be a body or some hair or something here. Did anyone else see Hojo…flicker?"

Nanaki nods grimly. "I don't think he was real. He didn't have a scent and when he saw Vincent, his whole body jittered."

Damien swears. "I'm pretty sure the Captain's going to be annoyed; she'll want to get to the bottom of this."

"Speaking of Tera, I'll go get her," I reply.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

I've found some very interesting files and am puttering away when I hear Rufus Shinra's voice: "Vincent, get **down**!" followed by an explosion. "Goddess help us," I say. "What was that?"

Yuffie shakes her head. "It sounded like Vincent's fire magic. It's kind of, um, showy."

"Yeah, I agree weakly. "Sounds like it. But why would he be using the sniper rifle in here?" She shrugs, and I sigh. "Let's pack the rest of this up and get going. If that didn't clear a path, nothing will."

"I might," a quiet voice says from the stairs. I whip my head around and throw myself into Vincent's arms. He catches me, laughing. "Well, I'm glad you're happy to see me, after all I went through to get here." He looks at Yuffie, completely unharmed, and raises an eyebrow. "I take it not everything is what it looks like?"

"It's a long story," I begin, and then scream, "Vincent, look out!" and haul him out of the way as a massive monster barrels down the stairs. It swipes me, and I hit the wall.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:**_ Okay. This gets messy for any number of reasons, mostly because it's setting some stuff up for the next story. This is the last full chapter of this one. The druid stuff might seem like a deus ex machina, but I worked this out before I wrote it, so trust me when I say it's important. Or will be. Or something. _

**17**

I see Tera bounce off the wall, then the demons in my soul take their payment for letting me off so easily in Tseng's office. It's not the Beast that squirms free this time, though. It's Chaos. "Get back, Yuffie," I growl. "This is Chaos unbound, not the creature you saw in battle before."

As soon as she is clear, I turn to the behemoth, wings sprouting painfully. I will not lose myself in Chaos. Tera needs me. Chaos, however, challenges my dominance. **What is this nonsense, Vincent?** He asks me.** I thought we cleared this up a long time ago. The only reason I do not take you over altogether-**

I cut him off. _It is because you cannot. I have the body, and the will. You only become dominant when I lose control. As you can see, I haven't, totally. I just need your assistance._

**My servitude, you mean. What if I refuse and retreat back into you?**

_Then I will deal with the Behemoth King myself, and you will get no blood. _I give Chaos a mental shrug. _The choice is yours. The Beast will certainly enjoy the kill._

I hear a snarl. **Play no word games with me! I am Chaos! I will have the blood-feast! Then, I will-**

I catch a trace of hideous laughter and cut him off again. _Chaos, you will __**not**__. If you so much as breathe hard on Tera, I will find a way to eradicate you._

**Even if it means sacrificing yourself? I very much doubt it. Life has a way of saving itself, even when the liver swears they would die.**

_You've saved me these years, Chaos. I would have gladly died twenty years ago, but Lucrecia bound us together, and I was forced to live. Thank you for that._

**What? Thanking me? I thought you would have gladly died!**

_And then I would not have Tera. Even if my life had taken a normal course, which is unlikely, given the times I've lived in, our paths would never have crossed. It was sheer chance that they did. I thank you for that, Chaos._

This whole conversation has taken place in less time than it takes me to get to the Behemoth King. The behemoth is making a move toward Yuffie, but I stop it with a whisper of power. Chaos seems to consider for a moment, then overcomes all reluctance at the sight of the prey. Together, we take the Behemoth King down. Then, feigning weariness, Chaos retreats. I can tell he's faking, but what can I do? The Behemoth King is down, and I need to see to Tera. I turn around. Or not. Yuffie is smearing the bright green salve on the claw marks, and Tera's conscious again. She winks at me.

"I'm fine. They build us Midgar girls tough." Her face grows concerned, and I am about to ask her why when Chaos surges again.

**You do not order me, Vincent Valentine. I was here before you were born, and I will be here after you die. I will take what forfeit I see fit.**

I gasp out, "Yuffie, Tera, get out of here, NOW!" and then the darkness takes me.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

I'm only unconscious for a second. When I wake up, Yuffie is spreading some salve on my wounds, and Vincent? Is it Vincent? Vincent and Chaos, I see, are fighting the monster. "Ow, ow, ow," I complain. "That hurt."

The monster goes down in barely a minute, and Vincent turns, once more completely himself. At his look of worry, I wink. "I'm fine. They build us Midgar girls tough." Suddenly, I see a flash of the other face, of Chaos.

As he goes to his knees, obviously fighting, he growls, "Yuffie, Tera, get out of here, NOW!"

"Bugger _that_," I say to Yuffie. "Go get Nanaki, and, hmmm. . . see if Recon brought a chipper young lady named Tindi. I can't do this all by myself." She nods and takes off for the stairs. As usual, I take on the more difficult task myself: distracting Chaos until I can slap a binding down. "Are you just going to obliterate me, or do I get some foreplay first?" I ask the creature, possessing Vincent.

**You have courage.** I hear the voice directly in my head. **But your smart mouth is going to get you in trouble some day.**

I snort. "Like it hasn't already? At least a third of the problems I've had to deal with have come of me talking before I think. Sadly, most of the other two-thirds is Owen's smart mouth."

The creature laughs. It's becoming more itself and less Vincent with each second. _Fight it, _I think to my lover, as deep as I can think it. _I can't do this without you, Vincent._

Chaos studies me. **Your thoughts are complex, like his. I believe that is how he managed to hold me off for so long. I would almost be curious to see whether you made a better host.**

"Bah. I'm too independent for you. Up until you pushed your luck and tried to take completely over, Vincent was fairly resigned to having you there. I prefer to keep me to myself."

He laughs again. **You're probably right, but you would amuse me. Pity. I do not know how the scientist Dr. Crescent tied us together, so I cannot break myself from Vincent Valentine.**

I have some private thoughts on that, but I keep them to myself. No use telling Chaos what I'm up to. "It would definitely be interesting, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I've spent the last twenty years proving I can stand on my own two feet."

**Vincent Valentine could, as well. He's just stuck with me, due to unforeseen circumstances. If he hadn't allowed his feelings for that woman to cloud his reason, he would have risen far in the Shinra Corporation.**

"It was rather more complicated than that," I reply sharply. "I don't know all the details, but I know his father was originally involved in the research. Lucrecia picked him to guard her, and I think Hojo threw a wrench in the gears. Probably just to see what would happen, knowing Hojo." I shrug. "Did you overpower Vincent just to talk to me?"

**In part, yes. You are possessed of an interesting mind, as I implied earlier, and I find such as yourself interesting. That's what caught me originally: Vincent is very like his father, and yet unlike. You realize I was meant to be the herald of the end of the world, right?**

"Yes, actually." I had found what Vincent and his friends had left of Dr. Lucrecia Crescent's research notes when I'd been downtown for an entirely different reason. "A Scout never passes up the opportunity to get new information," I tell Chaos, knowing he's caught the edge of that thought. "You never know when it might come in handy."

**Like now, he replies with a laugh. I was going to kill you outright, but I wanted to see what he saw in you. I agree with him: You are more alive than most of the people I've ever met.**

"Impertinent question," I reply. "Have you made Vincent immortal? There is mass confusion on that score, and I'm not sure Lucrecia even knew. She brought Vincent back from the very brink of death, some say just beyond," I arch a brow at Chaos, who only smiles. "But that was not how it was supposed to work. She bound you with some kind of unique materia, which apparently was only a farce, hence you now being unbound."

**Very good. And to answer the question about death, I could not have bonded with a corpse. Indeed, the only way to rid someone of me is to kill them. Which, I believe, answers the first question. He was in stasis for twenty years, nothing more. I needed that time to stabilize him, because he was broken in body and soul, and hopelessly insane. They came very close to bringing a similar threat to Sephiroth on their heads. The Valentine line has some. . .irregularities, and as you well know, Turks are infused with the Planet's power to give them additional abilities. That could have killed you all, except. . .** Chaos shakes his head.

"Except that Vincent Valentine is an honorable man, and would destroy himself before he let anything like that happen," I finish. "Hojo mentions it in _his_ notes." I hold up a sheaf of paper. "He considered it a weakness, which is why he ended up fathering Sephiroth himself." I chuckle. "Sadly, hereditary insanity runs in Hojo's bloodline. Hojo's predecessor, Professor Gast, knew this, but could do nothing other than send Vincent. Hojo has always been good at getting his feet under the table with the highest authorities." I see, in my peripheral vision, healer Tindi coming up behind Chaos, guarding circle at the ready. I can tell from her face that she's carefully keeping her thoughts blank.

**Scouts are nosy people. No ordinary woman would have been able to piece all of this together. He shakes his head again. It is almost a pity we have such a short time together, which is ending, I'm afraid. I will have my forfeit.**

"I think not," Vincent says, quietly, but clearly. I see a flash of golden-brown through the red eyes of the demon. "Now, Tera!"

Tindi and I drop the last runes of the guarding circle immediately into our heads, together. We've done this a few times before, so we don't even have to look at each other to time it. "I'm sorry, Chaos," I say quietly, "but I am no one's forfeit." As he starts howling, I call the names of the binding, and he drops to the floor, wings writhing.

**He is bound to me! What if you kill him?**

"I've been doing this for a long time, Chaos. I rather doubt that I will."

Tindi laughs. "Besides, we're not destroying you. We can't, just the two of us. It would take at least half the Circle. We're just binding you to something else." She holds up a homunculus and chants the final words of the chant. "You finally get your own body. I don't think you'll have the same abilities, but that will be your problem to solve."

**Who? Why? He depends on my strength!**

"As you said, I don't need to," Vincent says. "I will still have the Beast for emergencies, and you can finally learn what it is to be alone."

**What if this summons Omega?**

"We're _druids_, Chaos," I snort. "We know how to keep it balanced."

With a final howl, a red mist flies into the clay doll, now on the floor next to Vincent. It gains definition, and becomes Chaos, but diluted. "We can't just let you run around destroying things," Tindi says. "So we had to put some limit bindings on there." He roars in fury. "Talk with your voice," she snaps. "You know how."

"I will break this and wreak vengeance on you!"

"I rather doubt it," I reply, grinning at Nanaki, who grins back. "My friend here is going to take you to his home, where the rituals will be completed by a whole, entirely different Circle. Welcome to mortality."

Nanaki leads the anguished demon off, and I kneel next to Vincent. "Thank you for your help. We could never have done that by ourselves." I kiss his forehead, and he smiles. I notice there is still ruby in the depths of his eyes.

"Hmm. Were you _born_ with red eyes?" Tindi asks, seeing the same thing.

"Yes. I got them from my father," he replies. "**How** were you able to do that?"

"I didn't mention it before because I'm not supposed to, but Tindi and I, along with a few of my other Scouts, are druids, of the Circle of Midgar. That's why I'm uncomfortable living outside of the city; this is where I belong. Anyway, our job, or part of it, is to deal with things like Chaos, although I'll admit he's a special case. We've known about him for longer than he's been part of you, the Circle has, I mean, and we left him alone before because you were keeping Omega from breaking loose. But we knew we would have to keep an eye out in case Chaos broke free."

"I'd like to add, because she's too modest to, that Tera said that you would keep on top of it and we didn't need to keep a special watch on you. You really did meet us because Marcus betrayed the Scouts to whatever those guys were. He doesn't know about the Circle. We didn't see the need to tell the Guild." Tindi grins at the look of surprise on Vincent's face. "She really does love you, and even if we hadn't had a binding ready, we wouldn't have let Chaos take you, if only for her sake."

"Enough, Tindi," I say. I'm beet red. "You make me sound like a saint. If I wasn't such a twit, we could have brought them before the Circle at the next solstice. I had to go and get myself captured, so we had to do a field job. Aragon is going to have _words_ with me for that."

Vincent shakes his head. "I don't know what to say."

"Thank you, maybe?" Tindi teases. "I have to go tell Damien more or less what happened, and probably Owen, too, so I'll leave you two alone."

"Did Owen get Marcus?" I ask. "If he didn't, I'm never going to let him hear the end of it."

"Luckily for him, he did. It was brutal, so I'm told. You'll have to ask him to tell you. LATER," she adds pointedly, and closes the door to the stairs after her.

"I think that was an order," I tell Vincent. "I meant to tell you earlier," I add, looking at my feet, "Circle rules be damned. But we haven't had more than a few stolen moments of quiet, and I didn't know how to tell you. I couldn't know if you'd believe that the Circle didn't set me on you."

He laughs, softly, and pulls me close. "Neither one of us is exactly normal, Tera. I saw the glow in your face when I came down to rescue you. I don't think you could have faked that."

I snuggle up closer to him. "Good. If you had thought that, I'd have to kill the Arch Druid, and that would get me in trouble." I look up at his face. "I have to introduce you to the Circle anyway, to prove that we correctly bound Chaos. Would you like to come with me next full moon?"

"Of course. And then we'll visit Lucrecia, and tell her that her final project is done at last." He kisses me. "Let's go, before Owen comes down and interrupts us."


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

As Vincent and I step out of the building, Owen cannons toward me. "Gods, Tera, don't _do_ that to me!"

I laugh. "Of course, I did it specifically to screw _you_ up, Owen. Tindi told me you got Marcus."

"Yeah." His face is grim. "It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't quick, but it got done. Come on. If we don't get back soon, Demi's going to think we went on vacation with Recon."

Rufus Shinra walks up to us and hands Vincent back his sniper rifle. "Sorry I almost winged you. It was the best shot I had." As Vincent shrugs, I see Tseng trying to hide behind his boss.

"Tseng? Are you all right?" He flinches at my touch. "Hey, talk to me."

"I'm sorry, Tera," he says, not looking at me. "I didn't know Hojo was involved in this at first. That man said you knew him, and you were going to talk. He told me the rest right before Vincent found me."

"Oh, it's all right," I sigh. "I ought to have known you'd still turn into an absolute idiot where I'm concerned. You always have." I grin as he forgets himself enough to glare at me. "Glad to see Vincent didn't kick _all_ the spirit out of you. I rather like your attitude sometimes." I pull him into a bear hug. "You'll always be important to me, Tseng, but I told you the truth when I left you: We're much better friends."

"Yeah, we are," he admits. "Quite honestly, woman, you scare me sometimes." I laugh, and after a second, he joins me. "Vincent suits you, if only because he's even more intimidating than you are."

"Only if I'm not trying hard enough," I retort. "I just don't look as impressive."

Owen laughs. "Which only makes her scarier."

"True enough. Tera, will you ever forgive me for acting like such a jackass, and you too, Vincent? I've had rather a long month, and it all came to a head with you two."

"_You've_ had a long month?" I demand. "You haven't been chased out of your HQ, yelled at, attacked, both verbally and physically, had a severe muscle strain, or been kidnapped, on top of Goddess knows what else!"

"True enough," my ex admits with a laugh. "Sorry."

"Ah, no worries. It's been that kind of week." Rude, who has been lounging by the chopper through all this, comes over and hugs me wordlessly. "Good to see you, too," I tell him.

Damien sighs as he comes over. "Well, I've been through my trial of fire with Recon now. They'll follow me if Demetria tells them I'm Sephiroth reborn." He hugs me, too. "I'm glad you're okay, Captain. I was afraid Vincent would have to carry you out of there half-catatonic."

"Meh. Catatonia is boring." Rude, Rufus, Tseng, Vincent, Owen and I all crowd into the helicopter. Reno takes a bike from the back and goes ahead to update everyone back at our base. "Thank you," I tell him. "I'd rather no one kills anyone without knowing the whole story."

Yuffie goes with Damien and Recon. "I need to walk off the fuzzies," Yuffie says. She winks at me, and takes off.

"That was a rather dramatic change," Owen says. "What happened?"

I explain about Hojo's mind control methods. "Wait," I say, interrupting myself mid-sentence. "Where _is_ Hojo?" Owen and Rude exchange a look.

"Errr, we don't exactly KNOW," Rude says. "Rufus swears he hit him, but there are some…irregularities. We'll look into it."

"Thank you. You notice I'm displaying unusual tact, Owen. I haven't asked once what the hell you were doing here instead of with the rest of the squad, making sure this wasn't a two-prong attack. I will say, however, that if anything _did_ happen, I am going to be sure to tell the Guild that it's on _your_ head. You're certainly old enough to take responsibility for your own actions." Owen turns white. This isn't how things are done. "You and Demi need to start getting consequences more serious than my disappointment, no matter how much you wish to avoid that. When we are in a Scout situation, I am not your friend, Owen, I am your Captain. My responsibility isn't to avoid hurting your feelings; it's to the men and women who look to my decisions to keep them alive. Recon was able to pull it together because they had to. I don't **ever** want that to happen again. If Damien wasn't the caliber of leader he is, you might not have gotten here in time. From now on, if either of you objects to a direct order again, I might demote you. Tindi is more than capable of leading a field squad if she has to, and Deirdre would make a suitable proxy. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Captain," Owen replies. To the obvious surprise of the Shinra members present, there is no resentment in his voice, only chagrin and respect. "You've told me more than once that I need to stop acting with my emotions. It's about time I tried to do that." I nod approvingly.

Once we reach the base, we can see that most of our friends and my brother are waiting by the door. "What, did they not believe you when you said we were all fine?" I ask Reno with a laugh.

He only shrugs. "Wanted to see for themselves, I guess. Reeve's inside, feeding Recon and whoever else wants to be fed, and Hojo is safely bound and under heavy guard."

I wink at him. "You report so well that I may poach you off Rufus one of these days." When I get near the door, Tiarnan breaks free of the mass and charges at me. "Whoa, whoa! Big Brother, I'm fine. I've definitely been worse." He picks me up and hugs me, like he did when we were younger. "Oh, put me down! I'm _fine_, for gods' sakes! Everyone else wants to glomp me too, I'm sure."

He says, "You're quitting this damn job, Tera." Everything goes dead quiet.

"There, I think you'll find you're wrong," Tseng says. "She wouldn't be Tera if she did."

I grin at him "Oh, how the leopard changes his shorts," I comment. "Someone was telling me the same thing, not so long ago."

"Shutty." I laugh, and poke Tiarnan until he puts me down.

"Do you need any healing?" Tifa asks. "How's your back?"

"Better than it really ought to be," I admit. "I think it's up to something."

Reeve calls from inside, "Tera, get in here _right now_!"

I laugh again. "I ought to go missing more often. I'm so popular when I get back." I wander into the kitchen. To everyone's surprise but mine, Chaos is sitting at Reeve's table. "Hello, Chaos. I see you've discovered the joys of Café Tuesti."

Chaos chuckles. "I have. I came to see if you were back yet, and he insisted on feeding me."

"Nervous habit," Reeve shrugs. He looks me over. "Well, you certainly don't look like you've been doing all the things Chaos says you have."

I give Chaos a sideways look, and he winks a red eye at me. I notice that, while Vincent's eyes are deep gold with ruby highlights, Chaos's are red with gold sparkles. "I didn't tell him anything that's going to get me in trouble in Cosmo Canyon, Tera, don't worry." Nanaki nods.

"We'll leave in the morning. I thought I'd let everyone know everything went well." He gives me a look, and I follow him out of the dining room, waving Vincent back into his chair. "I would like the Circle of Midgar to see him as well, since you and Tindi are the ones who bound him. Can I bring him back here?"

"Does Chaos want to be here?" I ask. "Even in his weakened state, he would be a welcome addition."

"I shall ask on the way," Nanaki promises. "I rather think he does. He seems to like you."

"Odd, isn't it?" I agree. "I think he originally planned to kill me straight off, but he said he enjoyed talking to me. He said my thoughts were complex, like Vincent's. I'd be glad if he does stay; I think Vincent would miss him, to tell you the truth." I bend down and hug Nanaki gently. "Thank you for taking care of Vincent for me."

"It was my honor," he replies. "We'd best get back so everyone else can greet you."

Demi comes over. "Owen said you have something important to say to me."

I give her the same speech I gave him. "We can't afford the liability of you two acting like you know better than me," I add. "I know you don't think of it that way, but that's how the Scouts see it, and how the Guild will. If you're lucky, they'll leave the punishment up to me. If you're not, they'll bar you from ever attaining your Mastery, like they did Eilen. I won't go that far, but you may wish I did if you push me."

She stiffens at the threat of barring, and says, "Yes, Captain." Her tone is a bit cool, but I decide to let her deal with it if she doesn't decide to listen. As Tifa said earlier, it shouldn't be my problem.

"Disciplining the troops already?" Cloud asks sympathetically as Demi huffs off. "Don't you ever get a break?"

"I intend to," I reply with a smile. "Demi and Owen don't know it yet, but I plan on telling the Guild that I will no longer take responsibility for the mistakes those two make if I'm not here, or they contest my orders. Your lovely lady gave me the suggestion."

"Clever of her," he agrees. "You're wearing yourself to a splinter babysitting." When Demi shoots him a nasty look, he chuckles. "Cid's missed your crossbow."

"I'm sure he has," I reply tartly. "Not worried about me at all; he just missed my crossbow." I head back for the table. "Tell him Vincent has her, so he won't bug me. I'm starving."

Every one of the Twenty comes up to make sure I'm really okay, and to tell me that everything was fine while I was gone, and what they would have done to that bastard Marcus. It's starting to get a bit wearing, to tell the truth. Vincent sees my glazed expression and comes to rescue me. "Tera's been through a lot, and she ought to get some sleep," he tells Tarria, who scowls at him. "I'm hijacking her off to bed now," he continues, undeterred. "She'll still be here in the morning."

Chaos catches us in the hall on the way to our room. Vincent is wary, suspicious, but I grin at him. "Like we really need one more trickster about the place. Owen is enough for _two_ Master Scouts, much less my humble self."

"Well, you're stuck with me," he replies. "That is, if you want to be," he adds. He mutters, "It's so hard to tell what people really want when you can't read thoughts."

"You are welcome, if Reeve and Cloud agree," Vincent says.

"The Cosmo Canyon Circle will help you adjust," I add. "They've done it before; that's why you're going there. My Circle, as much as I love them, are a touch bloodthirsty."

"Thank you both. I think I'm going to enjoy living." He bows, and vanishes into the shadows.

"I'll never be totally human," Vincent says softly. "You've only gotten rid of the most contentious one of my monsters."

"I know that, twit," I say affectionately as he puts me on the bed. "I've only known you not totally human. I rather like you like you are, thank you very much." I pull him down for a kiss. "Don't be emo, or you're sleeping on the floor."

He laughs. "Oh, I think not," he purrs, and closes our bedroom door. "I plan on being in that bed tonight. Sleeping? That I'm not sure of."

The End

**One more word from the writer:**_ Okay, multiple words. Whatever. Anyway. That's it for this one. I'm sorry I made Tseng out to be such a gullible twit, but he IS hotheaded. Anyhoo. Thank you for reading the whole thing, and do not be afraid to send me constructive criticism. I'm going to keep this one as "In Progress" for awhile, due to the fact that I keep editing it. Thank you for reading/reviewing!_


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